US Defence Secretary Hagel to meet NSA Menon in Munich

Washington: US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel would meet India’s National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon in Munich this week, Pentagon officials have said. The two will meet during the 50th International Conference in Munich, Germany, scheduled from 31 January to 1 February. [caption id=“attachment_1367979” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel. AP[/caption] This would be the first meeting between them after the recent Devyani Khobragade issue that created tension in the bilateral ties. Khobragade, 39, was indicted on 10 January for visa fraud and making false statements by a grand jury. The 1999-batch IFS officer was arrested on 12 December last year in New York on charges of making false declarations in a visa application for her maid. She was released on a $250,000 bond. The diplomat was strip searched and held with criminals, triggering a row between the two sides with India retaliating by downgrading privileges of certain category of US diplomats. Khobragade had returned to India after US authorities accorded her diplomatic immunity. PTI