The US ambassador to India has resigned in the wake of a bitter rift between the usually friendly countries following a diplomat's arrest in New York.
The announcement by Nancy Powell, a veteran diplomat with extensive experience in Asia, comes days before India heads into elections in which the Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi - formerly a US pariah - is forecast by polls to become prime minister.
Powell, in a brief statement on Monday, did not elaborate on her reasons but said her decision was "planned for some time" and that she will retire by the end of May in the eastern US state of Delaware. She is in her late 60s.
Powell, who has been ambassador for less than two years, submitted her resignation to President Barack Obama and announced her decision at a meeting of staff in New Delhi, said the statement issued by the embassy.
She is leaving after the worst crisis between the United States and India since they started building a warmer relationship in the 1990s.
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India voiced outrage in December when one of its diplomats, Devyani Khobragade, was arrested and strip-searched in New York on charges of underpaying her servant.
US diplomats expressed regret over the treatment but appeared to have been blind-sided by the decision taken by prosecutors.
Khobragade returned to India under a deal but prosecutors went ahead in March with a second indictment.
