New Delhi, March 15 (IANS): India Saturday said the second indictment of diplomat Devyani Khobragade in a visa fraud case in the US was an "unnecessary step".

"The second indictment of Devyani Khobragade is an unnecessary step. We are disappointed. We reiterate that the case has no merit," external affairs ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said in a tweet.

"India's government will no longer engage on this case in the US legal system," he said.

Dashing hopes of a closure of the Khobragade affair, Indian American prosecutor Preet Bharara secured a fresh indictment of the Indian diplomat, who is at the centre of a major India-US diplomatic row.

Two days after a New York judge dismissed the visa fraud case against Devyani Khobragade, India's then consul general in New York, whose Dec 12 arrest and strip search strained ties between the two countries, a US grand jury Friday again indicted her on same criminal charges.

Khobragade's father, Uttam Khobragade also lashed out at the US Saturday.

"This was not done by court, it has been initiated by the prosecutor. This is a clear attack against the sovereignty of India. This shows that the US doesn't even respect their own court rules and are flouting it brazenly," Uttam Khobragade has said.