Immigration restrictions in the U.S. are likely to be highlighted as Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar travels to Washington D.C. to meet senior U.S. officials this week.
During the talks with State Department officials, including Acting Deputy Secretary of State Tom Shannon, the first formal conversations with the Trump administration, Mr. Jaishankar is expected to discuss the way forward in bilateral ties, including a possible visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the U.S. in the next few months.
The visit also comes days after an Indian engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla’s killing in an alleged hate attack shooting in Kansas. Many, including Information and Broadcasting Minister Venkaiah Naidu, have demanded the “strongest action from the U.S. administration,” in the matter.
During their telephone conversation last month, Mr. Trump invited Mr. Modi to Washington.
The two leaders are also expected to meet on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Germany in early July.
The Ministry of External Affairs confirmed that Mr. Jaishankar would travel to Washington D.C. from February 28 to March 4.
The MEA declined to comment on what would be discussed. However, an official said “all issues could figure,” including immigration affairs. On previous visits to Washington D.C. to meet the then-Trump transition team, Mr. Jaishankar met Vice-President (then VP-elect) Mike Pence and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval met the NSA-designate Gen. Michael Flynn.
General Flynn’s resignation over allegations of inappropriate conversation with Russian officials is seen as a setback as “some convergence” on India-U.S. ties had already been initiated, sources in Washington said.
In the past few weeks, India has expressed concern over the Trump administration’s moves to curtail immigration, which include making visas more stringent and cutting down on non-Americans being hired by U.S. companies.
On January 31, shortly after a Bill was moved to double the salary qualifications required for H1B immigrants, of which Indians constitute 60-70%, the Ministry of External Affairs issued a statement, saying: “India’s interests and concerns have been conveyed to both the U.S. administration and the U.S. Congress at senior levels.”
Last week, addressing a large delegation of U.S. Congressmen in Delhi, Mr. Modi repeated those concerns, urging them to have “reflective, balanced and far-sighted perspective of the movement of skilled professionals.” However, despite the appeals, there has been no indication of a rethink from the Trump administration and Mr. Jaishankar has his task cut out for him on the emotive issue that has both Indian professionals and the IT industry worried.
IT stocks dropped ₹50,000 crore in market value last month and 9% of their share value in the aftermath of the Trump H1B legislation being introduced. Sources in the Ministry of Defence said defence cooperation was also expected to figure prominently in Mr. Jaishankar’s discussions in Washington. While
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and his U.S. counterpart James Mattis reaffirmed their commitment to advancing the cooperation institutionalised under the Major Defence Partner (MDP) status, so far there has been little clarity on the direction and focus areas under the new administration, and the signing of ‘foundational agreements’ that the Obama administration had negotiated.
( With inputs from Dinakar Peri )
