As anxiety and uncertainty builds up among Indians living in the US, the Indian Government is strongly pursuing their case with the Donald Trump administration, clearly conveying them that H1B is an economy issue and the presence of skilled Indian professionals is positive for the US economy as well.
While allaying fears, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Gopal Baglay said on Thursday that Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar and Co-
mmerce Secretary Rita Teotia had a wide ranging discussions with their interlocutors in the US last week, and there was a strong recognition, respect for Indian skills and contribution of the Indian technological manpower to the US economy.
“It is widely agreed that
the presence of Indian technical professionals makes the
US more competitive and helps its economy. You would have seen that senior US officials have stated that illegal immigration and not H1B is their priority. You would have also seen that from President Trump himself there was a reference to merit based approach on the subject. It has been our view that the presence of skilled Indian professionals is positive for the US economy as well, particularly when the US seeks to build a stronger economy. There are, of course, other advantages also from the presence of Indian professionals in the US, such as, backward linkages,” said Baglay.
He added that India has conveyed to the US side that H1B is a trade, business and mainly an economy issue.
“We believe that the plans of the US Administration for the US economy present an opportunity for the two countries to further consolidate their strong economic partnership. This opportunity is all the more obvious in the light of the Government’s focus on economic reforms and high growth,” he said.