Congress slams Centre on H1B visa, Kuwait expat quota bill

Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi termed the suspension of H1B visa by the US and the introduction of expat quota bill in Kuwait as the failure of India's foreign policy, under Narendra Modi's regime.

New Delhi: The Congress party on Wednesday attacked Modi government on the issue of H1B visas and Kuwait's Expat quota bill, and alleged failure of India's foreign policy being the reason behind the moves by the foreign governments.

The statement comes in the wake of the decision by US Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement for not issuing visas to those students whose online classes are going on, till next semester, and even the entry of these students won't be permitted.

"This government gives various types of jumlas, but this time America is behaving as if there is no country named India. Three out of four H1B visa holders are Indians. Still, the US took a unilateral decision. So where is our diplomacy? Where is our Superpower image? This question becomes important," said Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi.

Congress lashed out at the government for not paying heed to the suffering of Indians who are in the US, mentioning that India takes 70 per cent of all 85,000 H1B visas issued by the US annually.

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While taking a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Congress leader said, "Why hasn't the government settled the issue with their so-called friend Donald Trump?"

Singhvi cited a figure of Institute of International Education, suggesting that the US had more than one million graduate and undergraduate programmes in 2018-19, which is about 5.5 per cent of the total student community in the country.

On the matter of Kuwait's Expat Bill, Singhvi stated that the Indian community is the largest expatriate community in Kuwait, with a total population of about 1.45 million, while the population of Kuwait is 4.3 million. The move will lead to a return of 8.5 lakh Indians being jobless.

"Kuwait is financially dependent on us. It took the decision to send back Indians without any consultation. What was the Government doing?," asked Singhvi.

Congress also slammed the Government for 120 million job losses in April due to lockdown imposed to prevent the spreading of Coronavirus. "It is a quadruple whammy against India and Indians both domestically and internationally," alleged Abhishek Manu Singhvi.