No US Demarche Over Srinivas’ Death as White House Was “Proactive”

The White House said the early reports coming from Kansas were “disturbing”.

A Hyderabad native, slain engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla moved to the US in 2006. (Photo: The Quint)

On Tuesday, India rejected media reports that a demarche was issued to the United States over the killing of an Indian engineer, Srinivas Kuchibhotla. The newly-appointed Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson, Gopal Baglay, said the proactive response of the American government and senior authorities in Kansas "obviated" the need for such an action.

It is important to note that the US authorities are engaged with us on the larger concern regarding safety of Indians in the US, a matter which continues to receive the government’s top priority. This approach is reflected in the sentiments and assurances from senior most authorities of Kansas, who have reached out to the Indian Consul General in Houston.

Also Read: Kansas Shooter Who Killed Indian Engineer Had “Health Issues”

The White House had earlier said that the early reports coming from Kansas, where Kuchibhotla was shot dead and another injured in an apparent hate crime, were "disturbing".

Kuchibhotla, 32, was killed and his colleague Alok Madasani, of the same age, was injured in the shooting by 51-year-old US navy veteran Adam Purinton who screamed racial slurs and told them to "get out of my country".

A 24-year-old American named Ian Grillot tried to intervene and received injuries in the firing in Austins Bar and Grill in Olathe, Kansas.

Sean Spicer, White House Press Secretary, also condemned the alleged hate crimes against the Jewish community and asserted that there is no space for violence based on religion and ethnicity.

Also Read: Kansas Bar Shooting: Indian Engineer’s Body Reaches Hyderabad

Kuchibhotla’s relatives held Trump’s stand on immigrants as the reason for the attack.

However, Spicer did not accept that.

Obviously, any loss of life is tragic, but I’m not going to get into, like, to suggest that there’s any correlation I think is a bit absurd. So I’m not going to go any further than that.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has joined local law enforcement agencies in investigating the incident that has shocked the entire Indian-American community and several hundreds of Indians either working or studying in the United States.

(With inputs from PTI and ANI)