Hours after news agency Reuters reported that the US government was planning to cap H-1B visas for India as a counter to country's data localisation norms, sources in the US government said they were unaware of any such plans.
On H-1B visas, ministry of external affairs (MEA) spokesperson said, "There is no US official who has come up with this statement and we have not heard anything officially from America. We remain engaged with America and the US Congress, and always emphasised the contribution of Indian skilled professionals to the US economy. Reports are source based and nothing has been officially communicated."
Talking on data localisation, the MEA said, "Consultations are taking place between the government and ecommerce companies. We remain engaged with the US and see how we can dispel any misconceptions."
Both issues related to immigration and data localisation are likely to figure prominently in discussions between US secretary of state Mike Pompeo and external affairs minister S Jaishankar on June 26. Pompeo will be in India from June 25 to 27 for the first major Indo US engagement after the new government was sworn in.
Ahead of the high-level visit, senior bureaucrats from MEA, petroleum, finance, defence, commerce and telecom are meeting almost regularly. Pompeo’s visit will set the tone for the meeting between US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the G20 in the last week of June.
Bridging the $24 billion trade deficit is likely to dominate the agenda and the US is likely to drive a hard bargain. Withdrawal of GSP benefits and India's retaliatory tariffs, Indian ecommerce rules, US warning to Indian companies on Huawei, tariffs on Harley Davidson motorcycles, import of Iran oil and the S400 deal are some of the differences that may come up for discussion.
The US would like India to buy more defence equipment from its companies. In the high-level meeting, Pompeo is likely to articulate its expectations from India in South East Asia and the Indo Pacific, sources privy to the developments told CNBC-TV18.
A senior official speaking on the condition of anonymity said the recent withdrawal of GSP benefits was not a setback. "This is not a setback for the relationship. We will see how much we can accommodate and the effort would be to arrive at a solution that is acceptable to both countries", he said.
The official added that while there were minor irritants in the relationship, the broad trajectory remains positive.
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