Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in an address to Indian community members at Ronald Regan Building in Washington, announced that the United States will open new consulates in Bengaluru and Ahmedabad.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in an address to Indian community members at the Ronald Regan Building in Washington on Friday, announced that the United States will open new consulates in Bengaluru and Ahmedabad.
The big announcement comes days after the US said it intends to open two new consulates to “boost people-to-people relationships”.
The prime minister also announced that Indian-origin members will not have to leave the US for a H-1B visa from now. “It has now been decided that the H-1B visa renewal can be done in the US itself,” he said. The new visa rules will make it easier for Indians to live and work in the US.
This will be a pilot programme that could be expanded in the coming years to a larger number of Indians. Indian citizens are by far the most active users of the US H-1B program and made up 73 per cent of the nearly 4,42,000 H-1B workers in fiscal year 2022.
The US embassy in New Delhi is one of the largest US diplomatic missions in the world. The embassy coordinates the activities of four consulates — in Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Hyderabad – ensuring that the US-India relationship is strong throughout the country, according to the information on its website.
PM Modi was on a state visit to the US at the invitation of President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. On Day 3 of his visit, the prime minister held bilateral talks with US president Joe Biden and addressed a joint session of the US Congress.
The topics of the historic address ranged from Ukraine war, terrorism, stability of the Indo-Pacific region and Indo-US relations. Following that, he attended a high-profile state dinner, attended by over 400 dignitaries, and raised a toast to President Joe Biden.
Following the diaspora address, PM Modi left for Egypt for a two-day visit. The state visit to Egypt at the invitation of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi is the first bilateral visit by an Indian prime minister since 1997.