India has lodged an official protest with the US authorities. Foreign minister S M Krishna will address the media on the incident at 2:30pm in New Delhi.
According to TV reports, airport officials asked Hardeep Puri to remove his turban during a security check, but Puri refused. Thereafter, Puri was made to wait for over half-an-hour in a 'holding room'.
This is the second instance of an Indian envoy being patted down at a US airport.
On December 4, Indian ambassador to the US, Meera Shankar, was pulled from an airport security line and patted down by an American security agent in Mississippi despite being told of her diplomatic status.
Shankar was subjected to an enhanced security pat-down at the Jackson-Evers International Airport in Mississippi, ostensibly because she was dressed in sari — India's national female attire and her stock-in-trade.
