U.S.-India relations were hit by case of Devyani Khobragade NEW YORK, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- The roiling India-U.S. impasse over the arrest of an Indian diplomat in New York for alleged visa fraud cooled Friday with the diplomat returning home. India's Ministry of External Affairs said in a news release posted on its website the 39-year-old diplomat, Devyani Khobragade, had been "transferred" back to New Delhi. The Voice of America reported Khobragade was ordered to leave the United States. Earlier reports said she had left the country, but the VOA quoted a U.S. State Department official as saying she had not departed as of Thursday evening, but was expected to do so soon after India turned down a U.S. request to waive her diplomatic immunity. Some India media reports said she had boarded a plane for India late Thursday. The case of Khobragade became extraordinarily complicated and diplomatically touchy for the two countries, drawing wide attention following her arrest Dec. 12 in New York for visa fraud arising from a visa application of her housekeeper and a dispute over the wages paid to the worker. The circumstances surrounding the arrest of Khobragade, which included a strip search, stoked widespread anger in India, leading to India taking various retaliatory steps against U.S. diplomats in India, seriously threatening the delicate and strong strategic diplomatic relations. In the case's fast-paced developments leading to her departure from the United States, Khobragade was indicted by a federal grand jury on the visa charges Thursday. At the time of her arrest last month, the diplomat had been India's deputy consul general in New York, apparently qualifying only for consular immunity, which doesn't rank as high as diplomatic immunity. The Indian government later transferred her to the Indian mission at the United Nations, so she could qualify to upgrade her immunity status. During the impasse, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had expressed "regret" over her arrest, but India persisted that the charges against her should be dropped and an apology forthcoming from Washington. The Indian External Affairs Ministry news release identified Khobragade's new post as counselor at the Indian U.N. mission. It said that on Wednesday she was accorded "the privileges and immunities of a diplomatic envoy" under the terms of an agreement between the United Nations and the United States, meaning Washington had accepted her higher immunity status. "At the same time, the U.S. government requested the government of India to waive the immunity of counselor Khobragade," but the Indian government Thursday "declined to do so and transferred counselor Khobragade" to New Delhi, the release said. "At the time of her departure for India, counselor Khobragade reiterated her innocence on charges filed against her," the release said, adding her children were still in the United States. The State Department official said the charges against her will not be dropped when she leaves the country and will face them if she returns, the VOA report said. The charges against me are false and baseless. I look forward to proving them wrong," the Hindustan Times reported Khobragade said as she boarded the plane to India, . The Hindu newspaper said with the departure of Khobragade for India, the stalemate between the two countries has ended. The report quoted officials India and the United States are now set to resume discussions to bring greater intensity in their bilateral ties. That step is important as U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Monitz was expected to reschedule his visit to India after it was canceled Thursday. With the visit, India and the United States could strike a deal to benefit from the gigantic shale gas discoveries in the United States that has opened up possibilities of huge U.S. exports. "We have been in conversation with Indian counterparts about the dates, and we have agreed to hold the dialogue in the near future at a mutually convenient date," CNN quoted a U.S. Energy Department official as saying. CNN also quoted human rights activists that India's anger about Khobragade's arrest missed the larger issue of mistreatment of domestic workers around the world.