Congress leaders on Saturday mounted a sharp offensive against Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the United States announced a staggering hike in H-1B visa fees. “I repeat, India has a weak PM,” declared Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi in a post on X, highlighting reports that the USD 100,000 annual fee would hit Indians the hardest.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge was equally scathing. “Bear hugs, hollow slogans, concerts and getting people to chant ‘Modi, Modi’ is not foreign policy!” he said, insisting that foreign policy should be about protecting India’s interests. “Foreign policy is about safeguarding our national interests; keeping India First, and steering friendships with wisdom and balance. It cannot be reduced to superficial bravado that risks undermining our long-term standing,” Kharge added.
Kharge also took a direct swipe at Modi’s style of diplomacy. “Narendra Modi ji, Indians are pained by the return gifts you have received after the birthday call,” he wrote. “Birthday Return Gifts from your ‘Abki Baar, Trump Sarkar’ Government! — USD 100,000 annual fee on H-1B visas hits Indian tech workers the hardest, 70 per cent of H-1B visa holders are Indians and 50 per cent tariff already imposed, a loss of Rs 2.17 Lakh crore to India is already estimated in 10 sectors alone.”
The Congress chief further cited the HIRE Act, which he said was targeting Indian outsourcing, and flagged the lifting of exemption to the Chabahar port as a “loss to our strategic interests.” He reminded that “Mr. Trump again recently claims (for the umpteenth time!) that his intervention stopped the India-Pak war.”
Congress deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi also weighed in, saying, “With the recent decision on H1-B visas the American government has hit at the future of the best and brightest minds from India.” Drawing a contrast, he said, “I still remember the boldness of former PM Manmohan Singh when one IFS lady diplomat was insulted in the US.” According to Gogoi, “Now PM Modi's preference for strategic-silence and loud-optics has become a liability for the national interest of India and her citizens.”
Congress leader Pawan Khera linked the crisis to past warnings. “8 years later, Rahul Gandhi is vindicated yet again,” he wrote on X, attaching Gandhi’s 2017 post pointing out that the H-1B visa issue never came up in Modi’s talks with then US President Trump. “He called it out back in 2017 and nothing has changed. India is still stuck with a weak Prime Minister,” Khera added.
The strong criticism followed US President Donald Trump’s proclamation on Friday, which raised the H-1B visa fee to USD 100,000 annually. Trump justified the move by arguing that the visa system was being misused. “The H-1B non-immigrant visa programme was created to bring temporary workers into the US to perform additive, high-skilled functions, but it has been deliberately exploited to replace, rather than supplement, American workers with lower-paid, lower-skilled labour,” he said. Signing the proclamation, Trump also claimed abuse of the programme posed a “national security threat.”
With inputs from PTI
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