A series of interactions between the Indian government and the US officials that started this week and would continue into the next will provide India with several opportunities to put across its concern regarding the proposed cap on H1B visas by the US.
Representative image | Reuters
Two delegations of record 27 US congressmen are visiting India this month. A delegation of 19 Congressmen are brought by Aspen Institute from February 20 to 25, and significantly, they will visit Delhi and Hyderabad. Hyderabad is one of the nodes from which several techies head to the US to work largely in technology outsourcing units in the Silicon Valley. According to figures provided by the United States India Educational Foundation, India corners the lion's share of the total H1B visas (in 2015, of the 1,19,952 visas issued, Indians got 1,72,748).
Another delegation of eight Congressmen led by Bob Goodlatte, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, will visit Delhi and Bangalore from February 20 to 23. Bangalore is another hub of techie export. While the visits are meant to showcase India's political vibrancy and economic energy, they will provide appropriate platforms for putting across India's stance that the H1B visa export is of mutual benefit to both the countries.
The ministry of external affairs said that Indian ambassador to the US, Navtej Sarna, too is on the job of conveying India's concerns. The India caucus in the US Congress is a large body, and another appropriate point to tap. Meanwhile External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and US secretary of State Rex Tillerson have already had a telephonic conversation where they emphasised that their close and strong relations were not just mutually beneficial but important for global security, too. Earlier Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had had a similar talk with his American counterpart, US Defence Secretary James Mattis, where they agreed to sustain the momentum on defence and strategic ties.
The one positive sign in the visa issue is that there have been no further developments at the US end. The three bills that have been tabled are yet to be taken up and the Executive Order that the White House has reportedly drafted has not been issued as yet. A status quo may be worrisome, but at least it still leaves routes open for dialogue. US President Donald Trump has had to face the backlash of the courts against his seven country visa ban. Perhaps that's why he may be going a little slow on the H1B visa issue.
