"Centre should have engaged in diplomacy": Telangana Minister slams government over US' H1B visa move

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], September 20 (ANI): Telangana Information Technology Minister Sridhar Babu Duddilla on Saturday slammed the Union Government after the US Government announced a new USD 100,000 annual fee on H1B visa applications and termed it an "unreasonable" move.
He accused the government of "stoic silence" over the issue.
"This is not a welcome step. Tech talent from India will be badly affected by this order...This is unreasonable...Why is the central government observing stoic silence?... They should have engaged in some diplomacy, negotiation, and discussions. Diplomatic discussions and negotiations should have taken place by this time with the American government," Sridhar Babu told reporters.
He said that people and entrepreneurs should benefit from the personal relationship between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump.
"We urge our External Affairs Minister and we urge our Prime Minister to have the negotiations, to have the discussions and to see some sort of a solution comes for this and creates a confidence among our people who are residing in United States of America. Their confidence has to be boosted and that is what we are requesting and we are demanding to central government," he said.
US President Donald Trump on Friday (local time) made a major overhaul to the H-1B visa programme, imposing a steep USD 100,000 annual fee on H-1B visa applications, raising fresh questions about whether this is a much-needed correction or a potentially crippling blow to America's tech talent pipeline. (ANI)