John Kerry’s India counterpart won’t even take his phone call.
The secretary of state had hoped to talk Thursday to Foreign Minister mid an escalating diplo-war over the female Indian consulate official who was strip-searched and arrested for fraud by the feds.
But Khurshid — who has called for the charges against Devyani Khobragade, 39, to be dropped — gave Kerry the cold shoulder.
“We will study the matter and then take a call,” Kurshid told reporters at an event in New Delhi. “Such decisions are not taken in a hurry.’’
Kerry had hoped to smooth the controversy that erupted after Khobragade, India’s deputy consul general in New York, was busted last week for visa fraud and paying her housekeeper a measly $3.31 an hour. New York state’s minimum hourly wage is $7.25.
Khobragade would barely comment outside her temporary home at the UN mission Thursday (right), saying, “My government and my lawyer will speak for me.’’
Kurshid jumped to Khobragade’s defense Thursday, saying she was being blackmailed by the maid, Indian national Sangeeta Richard.
He said Richard threatened last summer to go to cops unless Khobragade arranged a new passport and work visa for her, along with a large chunk of cash, reported by Indian media to be $10,000.
Richard’s lawyer, Dana Sussman, denied the claim, saying, “There was no extortion or anything about those lines. She essentially worked very long hours, was isolated within the home and attempted to ask for more time off, ask for more reasonable hours, but those attempts to resolve the issues were unsuccessful.”
Indian officials in the US claim Khobragade filed a harassment, extortion and blackmail complaint with the NYPD in July. But police officials said Thursday they have no record of any complaint.
Meanwhile, a US State Department spokesperson said the agency warned Indian officials in September that Khobragade was being eyed.
Khobragade’s dad Thursday hit US charges that she fraudulently claimed to pay Richard $4,500 a month as a “complete fabrication.’’
Khobragade drew sympathy in her homeland after she claimed she was strip-searched during her arrest — a routine practice, according to US marshals.
She also said she was made to endure a body-cavity search, which US officials deny.