US deliberately humiliated Indian diplomat, says lawyer

India has called on the United States to drop the case against diplomat Devyani Khobragade, who is accused of visa fraud and lying about how much she paid her Indian housekeeper.

Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said Thursday her arrest had no legal grounds.

"We want the cases to be dropped and withdrawn immediately. We are not convinced that there is a legitimate and legal ground to pursue this case," Khursid said.

"I have expressed my distress and dismay. Let us not pre-judge and allow the American government to respond. I understand the US is a responsible and liberal administration," he added, toning down the more fiery rhetoric he used earlier in the week.

More from GlobalPost: India furious after diplomat arrested and strip-searched in New York

Khobragade, who is India's deputy consul general in New York, was arrested for visa fraud after being accused of not paying her Indian maid the $9.50 per hour she promised on the visa application.

Instead, the diplomat is said to have paid her closer to $3 per hour.

She denied the charges and argued that she had diplomatic immunity.

The attorney for Khobragade told CNN recently that the arrest was baseless and politically motivated.

"They were trying to humiliate her and flex their muscle, and they succeeded in doing that," said Dan Arshack, a lawyer for Khobragade.

The US prosecutor for the Manhattan court fired back, saying that the uproar over Khobragade's arrest has ignored the offenses the defendant allegedly committed.

"One wonders why there is so much outrage about the alleged treatment of the Indian national accused of perpetrating these acts, but precious little outrage about the alleged treatment of the Indian victim and her spouse?" US attorney Preet Bharara wrote.

The Indian government was outraged by last Thursday's arrest — during which Khobragade was strip-searched — and took retaliatory measures against US diplomats in India.

A visiting US delegation was snubbed. Bulldozers removed concrete barriers in front of the US embassy in New Delhi. The government also revoked import licenses, which has meant that goods for the US diplomatic community could not be brought in, including alcohol.

India has also demanded the return of the maid, saying that it had revoked her passport.

Secretary of State John Kerry has expressed regret that Khobragade had been strip-searched by police.