India asks US embassy to withdraw a diplomat

NEW DELHI - India asked the United States on Friday to withdraw a diplomat from its embassy in New Delhi in the latest retaliatory action over the arrest of an Indian consular official in New York on charges of visa fraud.

An Indian government official said the US diplomat was involved in the case relating to Devyani Khobragade, the New York-based Indian consular official, that has strained ties between the two countries.

Khobragade was flying home on Friday from the United States after a deal in which she was indicted for visa fraud and lying about how much she paid her housekeeper, but allowed to leave because of diplomatic immunity.

"We called the US mission to withdraw an officer of similar rank of Devyani as reciprocal action," the government official said.