WASHINGTON: PM Modi Raises Issue Of Indians In US, H-1B Visas With Joe Biden: Foreign Secretary

WASHINGTON: Prime Minister Narendra Modi in
his first-ever in-person meeting with President Joe Biden raised a number of
issues involving the Indian community in America, including access for Indian
professionals in the US and speaking about the H-1B visas, Foreign Secretary
Harsh Vardhan Shringla has said.

Prime
Minister Modi described as “outstanding” his first bilateral meeting
in the Oval Office with US President Joe Biden who said the Indo-US
relationship is destined to be “stronger, closer and tighter”.

The Prime
Minister and his counterparts – Scott Morrison of Australia and Japan’s
Yoshihide Suga – also attended the meeting of Quad leaders hosted by US
President Biden in the US capital on Friday.

“He
(PM Modi) spoke of the issue of getting access for Indian professionals to the
United States. In that context he mentioned H-1B visa,” Mr Shringla told
reporters at a news conference on Friday.

The most
sought-after H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to
employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or
technical expertise. The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of
thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.

“He
(PM Modi) also spoke of the fact that many Indian professionals who work here
(in the US) contribute to Social Security. The return of those contributions in
the United States is something that affects the number of Indian workers,”
Mr Shringla said.

A fact
sheet issued by the White House later said that the United States was proud to
have issued a record 62,000 visas to Indian students so far in 2021. The nearly
200,000 Indian students in the United States contribute USD 7.7 billion
annually to the US economy.

Celebrating
the 75th anniversary of the Fulbright Programme worldwide, the programme has
been bringing Americans and Indians closer together for 71 years since its
launch in India.

“In
2008, we welcomed India’s decision to jointly fund these fellowships with the
United States, and renamed the program the Fulbright-Nehru Fellowship Program.
Over 20,000 fellowships and grants have been awarded under this exchange
programme, and the United States looks forward to building on these successes,”
it said.

“The
Partnership 2020 programme continues to foster higher education cooperation to
promote economic growth and technological advances. In collaboration with the
University of Nebraska at Omaha, this programme funds 15 research partnerships
between US and Indian universities in the fields of advanced engineering,
artificial intelligence, public health, and energy, among others,” the
White House said.

According
to the White House, the upcoming launch of the US-India Alliance for Women’s
Economic Empowerment – a public-private partnership between the Department of
State, USAID, the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum, and George Washington
University – will help catalyse collaboration to advance women’s economic
resilience and empowerment in India.

The
US-funded Nexus startup and innovation hub showcases the best of American and
Indian entrepreneurial innovation and technology commercialisation. Nexus
serves as a central hub for entrepreneurs, innovators, faculty, industry
players, and funding organisations interested in promoting Indian startups and
the local entrepreneurial ecosystem,” it said.

Since
2016, Nexus’s 138 graduates have raised over USD 19 million in outside funding
and closed over 70 deals with many prominent Indian and US companies, it said.

“The
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration works closely with Indian
counterparts in areas such as ocean and fisheries science, meteorology, and
earth observation, which helps us better understand climate change and save lives
through improved weather modeling and information sharing,” the White
House said.

The US
Department of Agriculture looks forward to cooperating with the Indian Council
of Agricultural Research on climate-change issues related to agriculture
through strategic research on crops, livestock, and fisheries, it said.