NEW DELHI: India on Thursday said that it was assessing the impact of US President Donald Trump’s decision to freeze non-immigrant work visas till December, a move likely to affect thousands of Indians.
“This is likely to affect movement of Indian skilled professionals who avail of these non-immigrant visa programmes to work lawfully in the US.
We are assessing the impact of the order on Indian nationals and industry in consultation with stakeholders,” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said. “People-to-people linkages and trade and economic cooperation, especially in technology and innovation sectors, are an important dimension of the US-India partnership.” Indian IT companies are amongst the biggest beneficiaries of the US H-1B visa regime.
The MEA spokesperson said that high-skilled Indian professionals bring important skill sets, bridge technological gaps and impart a competitive edge to the US economy. “They have also been a critical component of the workforce that is at the forefront of providing Covid-19 related assistance in key sectors, including health, information technology and financial services,” he said. “The US has always welcomed talent and we hope our professionals will continue to be welcomed in USA in the future,” Srivastava added.