Modi, Trump skip discussion on H1B

​Washington: The H1B visa issue that was looming on the India-US relationship did not figure in the talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi with US President Donald Trump on Monday.

With the Trump administration undertaking a review of the H1B visa, the most sought-after by Indian IT professionals, the issue had taken centrestage ahead of Modi’s US visit with the issue expected to figure prominently in bilateral discussions.

However, the H1B issue specifically did not figure in the talks with foreign secretary S Jaishankar telling reporters that there was a lot of discussion with business leaders and the two leaders about the digital partnership when asked about whether H1B visa issue figured in the talks.

“There is recognition that the Indian-American community has played an extraordinary role in building this relationship. When you value something it is obvious that you will take care of what you value,” Jaishankar said.

There was also no mention of the H1B visa issue in the Indo-US joint statement issued after the two leaders met. The White House, in a fact sheet, said Indian-Americans have embraced innovation and entrepreneurship, sitting at the forefront of Silicon Valley’s technology revolution, and founding an estimated 15% of Silicon Valley start-ups.

“They have helped to develop the Pentium chip, fiber optics, and noise cancelling headphones, among numerous other innovations,” it said. Today, nearly four million Indian-Americans reside in the United States and over 700,000 US citizens live in India.

Last year, the United States government issued nearly one million visas to Indian citizens, and facilitated 1.7 million visits by Indian citizens to the United States. Ahead of the meeting, a senior Trump administration official had said the Trump administration has signed some executive orders related to work and immigration, and President Trump’s executive order on H-1B visas directs the secretary of state, the attorney general, the secretary of labour and the secretary of Homeland Security to propose potential reforms to the H1B visa programme.

There have been growing concerns in India over the crackdown on H1B visas. Trump signed an executive order in April for tightening the rules of the H1B visa programme to stop “visa abuses”. Trump said his administration is going to enforce ‘Hire American’ rules that are designed to protect jobs and wages of workers in the US.

"There is no mention of the H1B visas, which has been the singular biggest irritant in the Indo-US relationship. Even with regard to terror, there is a divergence. President Trump's interpretation of Islamic terror is very different from the interpretation that we have of cross-border terrorism which is being sponsored by Pakistan.

President Trump chose to name the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea in his remarks, but he refrained from even mentioning Pakistan," Congress leader Manish Tewari said.