Trump’s H1B visa trouble for Indian techies

In sync with its “Buy American, Hire American” campaign slogan, the Trump administration has proposed to end H-1B visa extensions of foreign workers awaiting Green Cards. With about 70% of the visa holders being Indian IT professionals, the announcement has sparked fears in India that more than 500,000 Indian techies may be forced out of the US.
The recent proposal, if implemented, will hit the US companies hard since a bulk of their employees are from countries like India and China. Unlike Indian companies that go for project-based hiring system, the US companies face the risk of possible stalling of onsite projects if the workers awaiting Green Cards on extensions are made to leave.

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TRUMP CONNECT: A NEW INDIA-US CHEMISTRY

Initial anxieties about how President Donald Trump’s volatile policy postures and nationalist agenda will impact the India-US relations have now become muted. PM Modi’s visit to the US, followed by Washington’s greater receptivity towards New Delhi’s concerns on terrorism and Afghanistan, has infused a new dynamism in India-US relations, says Meera Shankar, India’s former ambassador to the US in an article written exclusively for India and World, a pioneering magazine focused on international relations
The election of Donald Trump as President of America brought new uncertainties in India-US relations. His “America First” approach and call for strong trade action to protect American jobs from being shipped overseas promised fresh trade frictions and the lack of clarity on the US’s role in the Asia-Pacific raised questions whether the Strategic Partnership would be diluted in favour of a more transactional approach. Today, eight months down the road and following Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the US in June, 2017, the India-US Partnership is on course, centred on shared interests in countering terrorism, managing a more assertive China and shaping a balance conducive to peace and stability in the broader Asia-Pacific region.

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Make & Invest in India, incubator of innovations: Modi at GSE 2017

Celebrating India as the land of entrepreneurs and the incubator of innovations, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has exhorted the international community to invest in India and showcased the burgeoning entrepreneurial culture in the world’s fastest growing major economy.Highlighting India’s recent economic achievements and the government’s successful efforts at promoting an investor friendly environment, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the world’s top innovators and entrepreneurs at the 8th edition of the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES-2017) in Hyderabad on November 28. Inaugurating the show with United States President Donald Trump’s Adviser Ivanka Trump, Mr Modi underscored the them of “Women First, Prosperity for All”, and pointed out a growing number of women entrepreneurs in India. This is the first time India is hosting the GSE, which has brought together over 1500 investors, entrepreneurs, academicians, think-tanks and other stakeholders to propel the global entrepreneurship ecosystem.

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Quad Quandary: Modi, Trump step up strategic connect in balancing Asia

Amid the mutating strategic landscape in Asia and the new geostrategic configuration of Quadrilateral as a backdrop, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi held wide-ranging talks with US President Donald Trump in Manila that focused on bolstering India’s military capability and enhancing strategic connect in the Indo-Pacific region.
The Modi-Trump meeting at a glitzy hotel in Manila on November 13 was watched closely in the region amid a collective effort by the leaders of ASEAN and East Asia Summit countries to shape an inclusive regional architecture and China’s declared ambition to be a global power.
The meeting between Mr Modi and Mr Trump lasted for 52 minutes, much beyond the allotted time, signalling that despite a slew of back-to-back meetings both leaders had serious business to discuss. “There was a broad review of strategic landscape in Asia,” India’s Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar told reporters at Manila Marriott hotel, where PM Modi with his entourage is staying.
Mr Trump was all praise for Mr Modi, suggesting a deepening personal chemistry between the two leaders. “He’s become a friend of ours and a great gentleman doing a fantastic job in bringing around lots of factions in India — bringing them all together,” he said.
Bonhomie and backslapping apart, the overarching thrust of the discussions was on spurring the rise of India as a major global power and enhanced coordination in the Asia-Pacific, with an eye on containing China.
The White House read-out on the Trump-Modi meeting underlined “shared commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific region.”
They pledged to enhance their cooperation as Major Defense Partners, resolving that two of the world’s great democracies should also have the world’s greatest militaries,” said the White House.

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