India withdraws US consular officials' ID cards

New Delhi, Dec 24: The India-US standoff over the arrest of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade in New York continues, with New Delhi Tuesday standing firm on withdrawing the diplomatic identity cards of US consular officials.

India Tuesday said it has decided to take firm "reciprocal steps" against the US consular staff in the country following the end of the deadline for surrendeing the identity cards provided to them.

"India has decided to take firm reciprocal steps following the end of the deadline for surrender of identity cards provided to US consular staff in India," said sources.

Sources said that new cards, which are replicas of those provided to Indian consulate officials in the US, are being given in lieu of the withdrawn cards.

Also, New Delhi has decided that no cards will be given to the family members of US consular officials, since that is not a courtesy extended to Indians in the US.

IANS