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Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao has said that the 'pat-down' search of US Ambassador Meera Shankar at a United States airport was not good public diplomacy and that it was awaiting a report from its embassy in Washington. "We have also asked our embassy in Washington to give us a detailed report on the incident. We haven't as yet received that, but we will be certainly looking at that before we take further action," Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao told reporters. Rao said the Ministry of External Affairs has already been in touch with the American Embassy on some previous instances though not exactly of the same nature. "We have an ongoing discussion with them on this and we will take it up," she added. Earlier, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna had said that such behaviour from the United States was not acceptable to India . Krishna said: "I am rather surprised by the way the Indian Ambassador to the US has been treated. This has happened for the second time in three months." "This is unacceptable to India and we are going to take it up with the government of the United States . I hope things can be resolved so that such unpleasant incidents do not occur again," he added. The incident took place on December 4 at the Jackson-Evers International Airport where Shankar was about to board a flight to Baltimore after attending a Mississippi State University programme. Those who witnessed the Ambassador's screening said officers told her that she was singled out because of the way she was dressed. Shankar was wearing a sari. She was taken to a VIP waiting room despite being told she was an Ambassador. She was later pulled from a security line and patted down by a female Transportation Security Administration agent. Shankar presented her diplomatic papers to officers and was escorted by a Mississippi Development Authority representative. Meanwhile, rhe Deputy Chief of Mission of the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, Donald Lu, expressed regret over the pat-down search of the Indian envoy and said security policies in the country need to be revisited. Speaking at a seminar at the American Centre here, Lu said that the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour have expressed a desire to look at the security policies again. "We all at the American embassy have tremendous respect for Ambassador Meera Shankar. She is one of the most impressive diplomats working today for India. What she has done personally for US-India relationship is well known and we have, again, tremendous respect for her. We have also seen major American political figures, you mentioned Hillary Clinton but also Governor of Mississippi expressed regret over this incident and desired to look at our policies again," said Lu. He further said that security remains a major concern in United States, so as not to allow any terrorist attacks and added that a balance needs to be struck between security and respect. "I think it is worth remembering that the purpose of having the airport screening is really to make sure that passengers remain safe and secure. We both, India and America, live in two big democracies... democracies that have faced very terrible terrorist attacks. Both of us have to find a balance between security and respect for each other. We are trying to do that in the United States, the struggle to have that balance set right is something we will continue to do," he said. Shankar was patted down by an American security agent at the Jackson - Evers International Airport in Mississippi on December 4. The incident took place when she was about to board a flight to Baltimore after attending the Mississippi State University's programme. Those who witnessed the ambassador's screening alleged that officials had singled out Shankar because she was dressed in a sari. Shankar was further taken to a VIP waiting room despite informing authorities she was an ambassador.

Pat-down search of Meera Shankar not good public diplomacy: Nirupama Rao