Jaitley meets US commerce secretary, bats for H-1B

Jaitley told Ross about the contribution of highly-skilled Indians in the economic development of the United States and India and stressed that they should continue to do so, which is in the best interest of the two countries.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has strongly raised the Donald Trump administration's move to tighten the H-1B visa programmes with US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, highlighting the key role played by highly-skilled Indian professionals in boosting American economy.

President Donald Trump this week signed an executive order for tightening the rules of the H-1B visa programme to stop its "abuse" and ensure that the visas are given to the "most-skilled or highest paid" petitioners.

The Indian IT industry has expressed serious concerns over the US's move to tighten the rules for grant of H-1B visa, mainly used by domestic IT professionals for short-term work.

Taking up the case of Indian IT companies and professionals, Jaitley told Ross about the contribution of highly-skilled Indians in the economic development of the United States and India and stressed that they should continue to do so, which is in the best interest of the two countries, officials said.

During the meeting -- the first cabinet-level interaction between the two countries under the Trump administration -- Ross is believed to have said that US has started the process of reviewing H1B visas issues and no decision has been taken on it yet, they said.

Ross is understood to have said that whatever the outcome of the review process, the Trump administration's objective is to have a merit-based immigration policy that gives preference to highly-skilled professionals.

The executive order signed by Trump early this week calls for a review of H-1B visas by the departments of state, labour, homeland security and justice. 

The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise in specialised fields. Indian technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year for their US operations.

The US market accounts for about 60 per cent of the revenue of the Indian IT industry.

Jaitley, leading an Indian delegation, arrived in Washington, DC, on Thursday to attend the annual spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Over the next two days, the finance minister is scheduled to hold a series of bilateral meetings with his counterparts from the US, Australia, France, Indonesia and Sweden. He is also likely to meet finance ministers from neighbouring Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Stressing that India-US relationship has bipartisan support in both the countries, the finance minister in his meeting with the US commerce secretary said the two largest democratic countries of the world over the years have developed strong strategic, economic and defence ties.

The three phone conversations that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Trump had, along with the officials meeting, has shown that the two governments are going to build on this momentum in the years to come, the officials said.

Briefing Ross on India's growth story, Jaitley is believed to have given him an insight into a series of "far-reaching reforms" being undertaken by the Modi government post-demonetisation including the Goods and Services Tax.

Jaitley said the two countries should be able to move towards achieving the goal of USD 500 billion per annum in bilateral trade in the next few years.

In addition to his meetings and presentations at the annual spring meeting of the IMF and the World Bank, Jaitley is also scheduled to attend meetings of other multilateral forums including that of the G-20 finance ministers.

Before leaving Washington, DC, for New York on Sunday, he is expected to interact with think-tanks and eminent Indian-Americans.

Image: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley with US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in Washington, DC. Photograph: Courtesy, Indian Embassy in US.