Amid concerns over the changed H1B visa programme in the United States, India has said, it was in touch with the Trump administration and was making a full assessment of its impact on Indian professionals. External Affairs Ministry spokesman Gopal Baglay said, the H1-B visa cap has remained at 65,000 since December 2004 when the H1-B Visa Reform Act was enacted by the US Congress.
US President Donald Trump had recently signed an executive order for tightening the rules of the H-1B visa programme to ensure that the visas are given to what he called the most-skilled or highest paid petitioners.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull had also said, his government will abolish a popular work visa used by over 95,000 foreign workers, a majority of them Indians, to tackle the growing unemployment and replace it with a new programme requiring a higher English-language proficiency and job skills.
The External Affairs Ministry spokesman said, India was also in touch with the Australian government. He, however, said senior Australian officials have conveyed to India that the impact of the changes will be negligible on Indian workers, most of whom fall in high skill category.
Defence Minister Arun Jaitley has assured the Indian Air Force (IAF) of expediting acquisition of fighter jets and other critical systems as part of its modernisation programme. In his inaugural address at IAF commanders' conference in New Delhi yesterday, Mr Jaitley also talked of what he called uncertainties in the region as well as on the security challenges facing India due to the rapidly-changing geo-political situation.
The Minister complimented the Air Force for having successfully conducted various military exercises and operations towards humanitarian assistance and disaster relief both within and outside the country.
The three-day conference will deliberate on a range of critical issues including modernisation of IAF, its futuristic plans and ways to enhance the overall capability of the force.
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