India takes up Shah Rukh Khan's detention issue with US

NEW YORK: The Indian Embassy in Washington said it has taken up the issue of actor Shah Rukh Khan's detention at a New York airport with the US Department of State, according to Press Trust of India (PTI).

In a press note issued, Indian Ambassador to the US Nirupama Rao said: "In order to convey the deep concern that has been expressed nation wide in India over this incident, the Embassy of India has taken up the matter with the US Department of State and sought the State Department's intervention to institute appropriate measures to avoid recurrence of such an incident in the future."

Shah Rukh Khan, the internationally renowned Indian film star, arrived in the United States by a private jet at White Plains airport near New York on Friday afternoon.

Approximately half-an-hour after his arrival, the Consulate General of India in New York received information that he had not been cleared by the US Customs and Border Protection (USCBP) at the Airport," read the press note.

"The Consulate General immediately intervened with the concerned authorities for his early clearance, which was done within 75 minutes of his arrival. Khan thereafter left the airport.

The same evening, USCBP authorities, through an email to the Consulate General conveyed their profound apology for the incident," said the Embassy.

Meanwhile, the US said Shah Rukh Khan's detention at New York airports twice is not racial profiling.

US State Department spokesperson Mark Toner said this time Khan was not 'detained' but 'delayed'.

"He was temporarily delayed before admission to the US. We have expressed our regret about the incident and recognize that he is a very renowned artist and humanitarian," Toner told reporters.