Indian Government Responds to US Visa Concerns

The Ministry of External Affairs attempted to ward off apprehensions among the visa applicants that India-US relationships are not on good terms. The MEA emphasized that the visas of Indian nationals should be evaluated based on merit.

In the wake of the US Embassy issuing new guidelines for visa applicants asking them to provide details of their social media identifiers, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that visa and immigration matters pertain to sovereign functions of any country. But, we have seen the new guidelines issued by the US Embassy, asking for details of social media handles of the applicants.” However, we believe that all visa applications of Indians should be treated based on merit.

Jaiswal said that India remains engaged with the US on mobility and consular issues to ensure that the legitimate interests of Indian nationals are protected. He informed that the US advisory level for India remains at Level 2, which is the same as before. He said that the United States has also updated its travel advisory for India on June 16.

Jaiswal tried to instill confidence among the visa applicants that US was not discriminating or suspecting Indians of being detrimental to the interests of America. The strong India-US partnership is grounded in shared democratic values and growing strategic convergence. India’s partnership with the US is grounded in shared democratic values and growing strategic convergence, he said and described the India-US relationship as the most consequential partnership of the 21st century.