New Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday attacked the Modi government for failing to stand by Indian students who are facing deportation from the US due to new visa rules, saying its “diplomatic failure” in resolving the issue has insulted India and Indians globally.
Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi said the image of India has been lowered after the US cancelled H-1B visas and the Kuwait government is seeking to bring in a new law that will restrict expatriates, leading to deportation of many Indians. Singhvi also took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not taking up the matter with the US president and said he should have visited the US to resolve it with “his friend” Donald Trump.
“India and Indians have been insulted at international level. Indians who have brought name and fame to the country with their hard labour are being targeted globally and the government is doing nothing about it,” Singhvi said during a virtual press conference. “The PM should have travelled to the USA and Kuwait, leaving aside everything, and sought immediate reversal of these policies that affect Indians,” he said. He claimed that instead Modi has done nothing about it and when crores of Indians are asking questions from him, there is utter silence on his part. Singhvi alleged that the government has been found sleeping on the issues concerning students and expatriates, and it should have come forth in resolving them through diplomatic means.
“Government of India has been found sleeping. It should have intervened and should do it even now to help the Indian students,” he said. The US had more than one million international students pursuing various graduate and undergraduate programmes in 2018-19, according to the Institute of International Education (IIE). (PTI)
