“India and US have growing economic and technological partnership,” MEA Spokesperson says on H1B visa

Spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, Randhir Jaiswal said on Friday that India and the US ties benefit from technical expertise provided by skilled professionals.

Jaiswal also said that growing economic and technological partnership is an important ambit of US-India component.

“Both countries (India and US) have a strong and growing economic and technological partnership, and within this ambit, mobility of skilled professionals is an important component in this ambit and this collaboration. India-US economic ties benefit a lot from the technical expertise provided by skilled professionals, with both sides leveraging their strengths and competitive value. We look forward to further deepening India-US economic ties which are to our mutual benefits,” he said.

In a major shift from his earlier stance, US-President elect Donald Trump had expressed his support for the H-1B visa programme and acknowledged frequently using it for his own properties, calling it a “great programme,” according to a report by New York Post.

Calling it a “great programme,” the President-elect said he has “always” been in its favour.

“I’ve always liked the visas, I have always been in favour of the visas. That’s why we have them,” Trump said in a telephonic interview with the New York Post.

He added, “I have many H-1B visas on my properties. I’ve been a believer in H-1B. I have used it many times. It’s a great programme.”

Notably, during Trump’s first term, the administration imposed restrictions on H-1B visas, citing concerns over “abuse” and “economic strain.”

In 2016, Trump condemned the program, describing it as a means for companies to replace American workers with lower-paid foreign employees. Restrictions tightened further in 2020 in response to economic challenges caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Trump’s latest remarks comes after a major divide emerged within his MAGA team in the United States, as Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy who advocated for the expansion of the visa program for ‘highly skilled workers’ faced heavy backlash from within President-elect’s base.