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The Print
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Print
‘Everything at stake' for Indian students as US pauses visa interviews amid social media vetting plan
This development is the latest in a series of crackdowns by the Trump administration on international students. Last week, the administration ordered a halt to the enrolment of new international students at Harvard University. However, a federal judge has temporarily blocked the move. A Delhi-based student, who has an interview at the US Embassy this week, called the reports 'a nightmare'. 'Everything is at stake at this moment. Although my interview is on so far, I do not know how things will proceed amid so much uncertainty,' the student said, speaking to ThePrint on condition of anonymity. New Delhi: Recent reports that the Donald Trump-led United States administration has asked embassies to 'pause scheduling new interviews for student visa applicants' are creating unease among thousands of Indian students set to join US universities this year. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed a diplomatic cable Tuesday, asking embassies and consular sections to pause scheduling new student visa interviews, Politico reported. The cable reportedly cited potential plans to require all foreign student applicants to undergo social media vetting. However, so far, there is no official order confirming the policy. During a press conference later in the evening Tuesday, Tammy Bruce, the spokesperson of the US Department of State, commented that the news reports on the decision likely came from 'leaked material'. However, Bruce emphasised, 'Every sovereign country has a right to know who is trying to come in, why they want to come in, who they are, what they have been doing, and at least hopefully within that framework determine what they will be doing while they are here.' If the Trump administration proceeds with the plan, student visa processing may face indefinite delays, potentially causing financial challenges for numerous universities that rely extensively on international students for funds. An Open Doors Report showed US institutes enrolled 3,31,602 Indian students in the 2023-24 academic year, making India the largest source of international students flocking to the US. Of the 1,126,690 international students in the US, 29.4 percent are Indian students. Another Indian student aiming for postgraduate studies at an Ivy League university this year also has an upcoming interview at the embassy. Mixed news is pouring in from his peers, giving him significant anxiety. 'A Bangladeshi student's visa was approved, but that is just one case. Everyone else has had their visas put on hold or rejected,' he said, requesting anonymity. He said that he has so far paid nearly $1,500 in application fees, college acceptance fees, SEVIS (Student and Exchange Visitor Information System) fees, and visa application fees. 'Besides, the tuition fee is nearly $101,200 per year, and I am yet to pay it,' the student said. 'All of it feels like a complete waste of time at this moment.' Students generally pay tuition fees after joining the university and, before that, the college acceptance fees. Also Read: IMF growth outlook is cautiously optimistic. It seems to leave out impact of larger disruptions in US Concerns over social media vetting The Politico report cites a cable stating, 'Effective immediately, in preparation for an expansion of required social media screening and vetting, consular sections should not add any additional student or exchange visitor (F, M, and J) visa appointment capacity until further guidance is issued via a 'septel', which we anticipate in the coming days.' The term 'septel' is state department shorthand for 'separate telegram'. The cable reportedly does not specify what future social media vetting would screen for. However, it references executive orders on checking terrorism and antisemitism, according to Politico. Students are very apprehensive about the upcoming social media vetting policy. A student at Harvard Kennedy School told ThePrint that a senior who returned to the US days ago had to pass a thorough vetting at the airport, including a search of his phone. 'Right now, we do not know which social media likes or comments will get you into trouble. The policy announcement is pending,' the student said during a phone interview, requesting anonymity. However, Shreya Mishra Reddy, an Indian student enrolled in a leadership development programme at Harvard Business School, stated in a post on LinkedIn that extensive social media screenings for all international students will become part of the process. 'Currently, the departments concerned are conducting a review of existing operations and processes for screening and vetting of student and exchange visitor visa applicants. The freeze is a further escalation from current screening measures, which have primarily targeted students who participated in pro-Palestinian campus protests,' she said. Uncertainty despite long, rigorous admission According to consultants and students, the entire process of admission to a good college in the US may take years of hard work. Sakshi Mittal, the founder of the education consultancy University Leap, said that students work tirelessly for four years to secure admission to top universities. 'Parents and students invest heavily in SAT preparations, taking coaching classes, and participating in extracurricular activities. For many who finally achieved their dream, the hope of studying in the US feels uncertain now,' Mittal said. 'Some of our students have already secured visa interview slots and received their visas, but others on waitlists or recently admitted are extremely stressed. Many had not applied to alternative universities and are now rushing to apply last-minute to universities in the UK and other countries,' she added. 'On average, parents spend between Rs two crore and four crore for an undergraduate programme at a top U.S. university.' Mittal also advised some students to defer their admissions if the decision is irreversible, adding that she is hoping for a reversal of the decision soon. A student set to join a law course at a reputed US university described the visa process as lengthy. She explained that after a US college accepts a student, the student receives a Form I-20 or Form DS-2019 to apply for an F-1 or a J-1 visa, respectively. Then, pay the SEVIS fee and complete the online DS-160 visa application form. Then, schedule a visa interview at the nearest US Embassy or Consulate and prepare all necessary documents. These include the passport, I-20 or DS-2019, DS-160 confirmation, SEVIS fee receipt, university admission and invitation letters, financial proof, and academic records. 'The visa appointment happens in two steps—first, the biometric, and then, the actual interview on a separate date. My biometrics are complete. I am anxious and uncertain about my interview scheduled for next week. But I believe that, as with all other decisions of the Trump administration, this will also be revoked, or reverted,' she said, requesting anonymity. (Edited by Madhurita Goswami) Also Read: US pushes for direct India-Pakistan talks, 'dealmaker' Trump ready to aid 'pursuit of peace'
Time of India
4 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
India & US may finalise interim trade deal by June 25 ahead of Donald Trump's tariff deadline
India-US trade deal: The focus remains on securing an interim trade arrangement before finalising the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement. (AI image) India-US trade deal: A bilateral trade agreement between US President Donald Trump-led US and PM Narendra Modi-led India could be sealed as early as the end of June. A delegation of US officials is scheduled to visit India in June for trade discussions. The focus remains on securing an interim trade arrangement before finalising the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement (BTA), particularly as the USA's 26 per cent reciprocal tariff on India remains suspended until July 9 this year. This tariff was implemented by the US on April 2. Currently, Indian exports continue to face America's standard 10 per cent baseline tariff. Sources told PTI that a potential interim trade agreement could be reached by June 25. "Talks are moving. Things are on track," according to these sources. Also Read | Explained: Why India is well positioned to deal with negative effects of Trump's tariffs & top reasons it will be at an advantage Special Secretary Rajesh Agrawal from India's Department of Commerce, who serves as the country's primary negotiator, recently completed a four-day diplomatic mission to Washington. During his stay, he engaged in discussions with his American counterpart regarding the proposed agreement. Additionally, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal visited Washington recently to advance the trade negotiations. His agenda included two meetings with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. India-US trade deal talks In the ongoing trade negotiations, India seeks complete relief from the 26 per cent reciprocal duty imposed on its domestic products. India and the US have established a target to finalise the initial phase of the suggested BTA before autumn (September-October) this year. India seeks to negotiate duty reductions in the proposed agreement with America, focusing on sectors that employ a significant workforce, including textiles, gems and jewellery, leather products, garments, plastics, chemicals, shrimp, oil seeds, chemicals, grapes and bananas. The United States, in return, is requesting tariff reductions across various sectors, including industrial products, automobiles (particularly electric vehicles), wines, petrochemical items, dairy products and agricultural goods such as apples, tree nuts and GM (genetically modified) crops. India maintains strict regulatory standards regarding GM crop imports from the US, making their entry unfeasible. However, New Delhi remains receptive to importing non-GM products, including Alpha alpha hay, which serves as cattle feed. The United States maintained its position as India's main trading partner for the fourth straight year in 2024-25, with two-way trade reaching $131.84 billion. The US constitutes approximately 18 per cent of India's overall goods exports, 6.22 per cent in imports, and 10.73 per cent of the nation's total merchandise trade. Also Read | Forced to destroy! US rejects 15 mango shipments from India, exporters estimate losses of $500,000 India registered a positive trade balance (exports surpassing imports) with the US, amounting to $41.18 billion in goods during 2024-25. Previous figures show $35.32 billion in 2023-24, $27.7 billion in 2022-23, $32.85 billion in 2021-22 and $22.73 billion in 2020-21. The US has expressed apprehension regarding this increasing trade imbalance. Both trading partners aim to increase bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030, which will be a more than a twofold increase from current levels. A finance ministry report suggests that a successful trade deal between India and the US could transform existing challenges into opportunities, potentially creating new avenues for market access and enhancing exports. Also Read | Remittances tax: How Donald Trump's 'The One Big Beautiful Bill' may turn out to be ugly for Indians in the US Stay informed with the latest business news, updates on bank holidays and public holidays . AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
Hindustan Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Hindustan Times
India, US tariff dispute is a battle of principles
India-US trade relations have witnessed a serious shake-up over the last few weeks, with India maintaining a principled position of sovereignty. This comes in the context of the turmoil initiated by the heavy-handedness of the Donald Trump-led US administration that risks undermining the global trade order established over the last three decades in the form of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The advantage of a multilateral platform like WTO is that it provides a framework that all countries can leverage to protect their interests. The recent strategy by the US government to undermine the global framework while striking multiple bilateral trade treaties is a concerted effort to squeeze their trading partners to the maximum possible extent. In particular, the US President has been trying to pressure India by repeatedly singling it out as 'one of the highest taxed or tariffed countries in the world', even as both countries work on a bilateral trade deal. For instance, Trump recently suggested that India has 'offered' to cut 100% tariff on all US imports, and that he asked Apple Inc. to not shift its manufacturing base to India. This adds to the recent geopolitical tension India had with its neighbour where the US President claimed to have negotiated a de-escalation by leveraging the trade deal. While India has diplomatically refuted much of these tall claims, it has also initiated a firm pushback by leveraging the WTO platform. India and the US have had a history of disagreements over the WTO platform. Back in 2018, the previous Trump administration imposed additional duties on steel and aluminium imports from India. India retaliated with customs duties on 28 products from the US in 2019. The issue was eventually resolved under the Biden administration where both countries settled seven WTO disputes via mutual cooperation. Once the US administration chose to reapply the tariffs (although this time, it was part of its global tariff war), India challenged the validity of the same at WTO. India argued that the provisions do not follow the WTO norms under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), 1994, and Agreement of Safeguards; one critical condition of which is that the country must give advance notice to WTO before it imposes any such tariffs. The US response was that the tariffs were not under safeguard provisions but were under national security actions, which do not come under the purview of WTO. In the course of these discussions, the US government tried to arm-twist India by challenging the latter's Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for specialty steel. The US argued that such subsidies are inappropriate given the global over-capacity in the metal. India duly responded that the PLI schemes are valid under WTO norms and are designed to help develop self-reliance in speciality steel given the country is a net importer for such products. India also argued that the subsidy it gives is modest compared to the Chinese subsidy that amounts to over $50 billion! India has now communicated to the WTO its intention to impose retaliatory measures via the 'suspension of concessions and other obligations' in response to the US tariffs. India rejects the US argument of national security and insists that the tariffs need to be scrutinised via consultations as prescribed under the Agreement of Safeguards. Effectively, the Indian notification, while following WTO norms, argues that the same norms must be applicable for the US imposition as well. This initiative was a well calibrated response just before India's commerce and industry minister commenced his Washington trip to discuss the trade agreement. India is communicating to the global community that while it negotiates a trade agreement with the US, it does not intend to do so by undermining the WTO framework like the latter. India is signalling that the US-India trade agreement will be under mutual cooperation and not unilateral pressure. The recently concluded UK-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA), between the sixth-largest and the fourth-largest economies of the world, is an example where India highlighted the importance of mutual cooperation within a globally-accepted framework. Such a nuanced position from India, which is poised to emerge as the third-largest economy in the world by 2028, reflects a maturity and sense of responsibility that comes with such a status. Even as the outcome of these negotiations are yet to be realised, the principled position taken by India presently should be lauded for its intent. Amitayu Sengupta is senior research consultant, Chintan Research Foundation. The views expressed are personal.
NDTV
24-05-2025
- Politics
- NDTV
"Pawns, Poker Chips": Foreign Students At Harvard Panic Amid Trump Battle
International students at Harvard University are in panic after being caught in the middle of an unprecedented standoff between the country's oldest educational institution and the President Donald Trump-led administration. The uncertainty stems from the Trump administration's decision to ban Harvard from enrolling international students. Leo Gerdén, a Swedish who is supposed to graduate next week, told CNN, "We are being used essentially as poker chips in a battle between the White House and Harvard, and it honestly feels very dehumanising." The Trump administration has accused Harvard of maintaining an unsafe campus culture that gives unfair treatment to Jewish people. The government wants to change the way the university works, in terms of campus events, staff hiring and students' admission. A postdoctoral Israeli student said the US government was using Jewish students as a tool to attack and push a larger fight against Harvard. She said, "Jewish students are being used as pawns." Instead of genuinely caring for the safety of Jewish and Israeli students, she said that the White House was cracking down on opinions that didn't always align with the administration. An Australian graduate student said it was unfair that students were being punished for protests and activism on campus, reported CNN. Harvard student body co-president Abdullah Shahid Sial, from Pakistan's Lahore, told CNN that thousands of students were afraid of losing their current legal status. He said, "They're literally like, teenagers, thousands of miles away from their hometowns having to deal with this situation, which lawyers often fear to engage in." Mr Sial said that Harvard was special because it attracted the smartest people from all over the world and not just from the US. The country also benefits a lot when the students come to study there, but now these students are being treated unfairly and disrespectfully, he said. Karl Molden, a student from Austria, said many have worked very hard to enter Harvard, the nation's oldest and wealthiest college, and now they have to wait and deal with visa problems. International students make up about 27 per cent of Harvard's student body. On Friday, a federal judge temporarily halted the Trump administration's ban after Harvard took the matter to the court.
Mint
22-05-2025
- Business
- Mint
Qatar's luxury jet gift to Trump to serve as Air Force One: ‘Largest bribe in American history'
The Donald Trump-led US dispensation has confirmed that it has accepted a luxury Boeing 747 jetliner as a gift from Qatar during the President's recent visit to Gulf Arab states. The Pentagon further added that the aircraft, after being modified, would be used for Trump's transportation. "The secretary of defense has accepted a Boeing 747 from Qatar in accordance with all federal rules and regulations," Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement on Wednesday. The White House has asserted that the $400 million aircraft gift from the Middle Eastern country is legal, but the announcement has caused an uproar, with Democrats terming it the "largest bribe in American history" and have sought to block its handover. The US Constitution contains a provision known as the Emoluments Clause, which prohibits public officials from accepting gifts or payments from foreign governments without the approval of Congress. In this instance, no such approval has been granted, BBC reported. Read | South African President jokes about Qatar's airplane gift for Trump: 'I'm sorry we don't have a plane to give you' "Today marks a dark day in history: the president of the United States of America officially accepted the largest bribe from a foreign government in American history," Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer was quoted as saying by Reuters. He added that the "unprecedented action is a stain on the office of the presidency and cannot go unanswered." A week ago, Trump justified the transfer by saying, "They're giving us a gift." The president has also said it would be "stupid" not to accept the plane. The president has maintained that the plane transfer is lawful, as it is being provided to the US Department of Defence rather than to him personally. He also affirmed that he had no intention of using it after leaving office. Read | 'Don't want to say I did, but…': In Qatar, Trump reiterates he 'settled' India-Pakistan tensions Retrofitting the 13-year-old aircraft, which features a lavish interior, would require extensive upgrades to security systems and communications to prevent foreign surveillance, as well as defences against potential missile attacks, according to experts. Aviation specialists and industry sources previously stated that the plane might require fighter jet escorts and could be limited to flights within the United States unless these costly enhancements were made. On Tuesday, Democratic Senators Mazie Hirono and Tammy Duckworth warned that the retrofitting could exceed $1 billion, and it posed significant national security risks. Read | Boeing 747-8: Qatar's $400 million 'gift' to Donald Trump — from speed to range, here's what you need to know Duckworth said the United States has two fully operational Air Force One jets and has no need to retrofit the Qatari plane. "Any civilian aircraft will take significant modifications," Air Force Secretary Troy Meink said at a Senate hearing on Tuesday. "We will make sure we do what's necessary to ensure security of the aircraft." He said the Air Force had been directed to begin planning to address modifications to the plane. The Pentagon has not said how much it will cost or how long it will take. The costs could be significant, given the cost for Boeing's current effort to build two new Air Force One planes is over $5 billion. The current Air Force One aeroplanes entered service in 1990. The Air Force One programme has faced chronic delays over the last decade, with the delivery of two new 747-8s slated for 2027, three years behind the previous schedule.
