US apologises to King Khan for detaining him

New Delhi: US today apologised to Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan for any inconvenience when he was detained for over two hours at an American airport and said it would put in place systems that can help address such circumstances. US Embassy spokesperson Peter Vrooman said many Americans are great fans of Indian movies and respect the work of "great actor" Shahrukh Khan.

"Please allow me on behalf of our diplomatic mission in India to apologise if Mr Shahrukh Khan experienced an inconvenience or delay yesterday in White Plains, New York on his way to Yale University," he told reporters here. Khan was detained at a New York airport for over two hours by immigration officials after arriving from India in a private plane with Nita Ambani, to address students at Yale University here.

While Nita, wife of Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani, and the rest of their group were cleared immediately, Khan was stopped and was given immigration clearance only after about two hours. Vrooman said the Department of Homeland Security is taking efforts to put in place systems that can help address circumstances faced by Khan or any other traveler.

He said the Traveler Redress Inquiry Programme can be used to resolve issues such as misidentification as it is a single point of contact for individuals who have inquiries or seek resolution regarding difficulties they experienced during their travel screening. The spokesman said the US strives to welcome all "legitimate" travelers to the US warmly. To drive home his point that Khan is admired in the US, Vrooman said his daughter always asks to see SRK`s "Chammak Challo" hit song in Ra.One.