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The Hindu
6 days ago
- Business
- The Hindu
India says issuing visas is U.S. prerogative, hopes Indian students will be considered on merit
Issuing visas is a sovereign issue for the U.S. government, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday (May 29, 2025), but added that the government hopes that the process will be completed in time for Indian students to join the U.S. universities they have gained admission to this year. This comes amidst reports that the U.S. missions in India and around the world have temporarily paused scheduling new visa appointments as they await instructions from the U.S. State department on how to enhance their screening of applicants' social media profiles. 'Sovereign function' MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that the welfare of students was of 'utmost priority'. 'We have seen reports suggesting the U.S. government updated guidance regarding Student and Exchange Visitor visa applicants,' Mr. Jaiswal said at a weekly media briefing. 'While we note that issuance of visa is a sovereign function, we hope that the application of Indian students will be considered on merit and they will be able to join their academic programmes on time,' he added. Mr. Jaiswal also pointed out that more than 3,30,000 Indian students were studying in the U.S., as of 2023-24. Indians made up nearly 30% of the roughly 1.1 million international students in the U.S. that year, the biggest bloc from any country. Foreign Secretary meetings The controversy over the student visas, the latest hiccup to hit India-U.S. relations, came even as Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri ended his three-day visit to Washington. The MEA spokesperson did not confirm whether the pause in visas, or the Trump administration's latest repetition of claims that the U.S. mediated the India-Pakistan ceasefire using trade as leverage, were issues raised during Mr. Misri's meetings, particularly his talks with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau. '[Mr. Landau and Mr. Misri] agreed that technology, trade, and talent will shape the India-U.S. partnership in the 21st century,' Mr. Jaiswal said, adding that they committed to strengthening the comprehensive global strategic partnership between the two countries. 'So whether this particular issue was raised [or not], I would say that all issues of mutual interest was discussed between India and the United States. Mr. Jaiswal said that Mr. Misri had also discussed defence and energy cooperation, as well as efforts to strengthen the Quad, IMEEC (India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor), and I2U2 (Israel-India-UAE-U.S.) initiatives. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is due to travel to Washington at the end of June for a meeting of Quad Foreign Ministers, and India is expected to host the Quad summit in November.
Free Malaysia Today
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
US threatens to quit Russia-Ukraine effort without ‘concrete proposals'
Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed a three-day ceasefire but dismissed a Ukrainian-backed US demand for a longer 30-day truce. (AP pic) WASHINGTON : Secretary of state Marco Rubio warned Tuesday that the US would end mediation unless Russia and Ukraine come up with 'concrete proposals,' as US patience wanes on an early priority for President Donald Trump. Trump had vowed to end the war in his first 24 hours back in the White House but, as he celebrates 100 days in office, Rubio has suggested the administration could soon turn attention to other issues. 'We are now at a time where concrete proposals need to be delivered by the two parties on how to end this conflict,' State department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters, in what she said was a message from Rubio. 'If there is not progress, we will step back as mediators in this process.' She said it would ultimately be up to Trump to decide whether to move ahead on diplomacy. Russian President Vladimir Putin recently proposed a three-day ceasefire around Moscow's commemorations next week for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. But Putin has rebuffed a Ukrainian-backed US call for a 30-day ceasefire. The US wants 'not a three-day moment so you can celebrate something else – a complete, durable ceasefire and an end to the conflict,' Bruce said. It remains unclear if Rubio is actually ready to turn the page or is seeking to pressure the two countries – especially Russia, which believes it has an upper hand on the battlefield and in diplomacy since Trump's outreach. Trump, criticising his predecessor Joe Biden's support for Ukraine, reached out to Putin after taking office, easing him from the international isolation he has been in since he ordered the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Putin again last week met with Trump's business friend Steve Witkoff, who has taken on a role of a globe-trotting envoy. Trump in turn berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a Feb 28 White House meeting, with Trump and vice president JD Vance accusing the wartime leader of ingratitude for US weapons. Ukraine quickly tried to make amends by backing US diplomatic efforts and pursuing a deal in which the US would control much of the country's mineral wealth. But Zelensky has held firm against formal international recognition of Russia's 2014 takeover of Crimea. Trump has insisted that Ukraine has lost Crimea and Zelensky should give it up. Speaking by videoconference to an event in Poland on Tuesday, Zelensky said: 'We all want this war to end in a fair way – with no rewards for Putin, especially no land.' Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the senate foreign relations committee, said Tuesday that recognising 'Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea would invite additional aggression from Moscow and Beijing.' 'I have endeavoured to give president Trump the space to negotiate a just and lasting peace in Ukraine, which is a goal we both share,' she said. 'However, president Trump and his team have fatally mismanaged these negotiations – offering concession after concession to Russia, throwing away our leverage and fracturing the united front with our allies that is critical to ending this war,' she said. Ukraine on Tuesday ordered the evacuation of seven villages in the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region which used to be remote from the frontlines but are now under threat as Russian forces close in. Russia has been trying to break into the region from the neighboring Donetsk but has not succeeded, even after more than three years of grinding battles. Last week a ballistic missile ripped into a residential area of Kyiv in one of the deadliest attacks on the city since the invasion. Trump, who has boasted of his rapport with Putin, wrote, 'Vladimir, STOP,' on social media after the attack.
Telegraph
13-04-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Man mistakenly deported to El Salvador ‘alive and secure', says US
A man who was mistakenly deported from the US to El Salvador's notorious Terrorism Confinement Center is 'alive and secure', a US official has confirmed. Kilmar Abrego Garcia, 29, was one of more than 200 people the Trump administration deported to El Salvador on allegations of gang affiliation. The US government later conceded that Mr Garcia was deported due to an 'administrative error'. The update comes as Donald Trump gets ready to host Nayib Bukele, his El Salvadoran counterpart, at the White House on Monday. When questioned by Paula Xinis, a US district judge, about his whereabouts, Michael Kozak, a State department official, said on Saturday: 'It is my understanding based on official reporting from our Embassy in San Salvador that Abrego García is currently being held in the Terrorism Confinement Center in El Salvador.' Mr Kozak did not address other questions. Mr Garcia has held a US work permit since 2019 and is married to US citizen Jennifer Vasquez Sura. He was stopped and detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) officers on March 12 and questioned about alleged gang affiliation. He was then placed on one of the three high-profile deportation flights to El Salvador, under an arrangement between the two countries. His wife said she has not been able to speak with him since his deportation. The Trump administration has fought against helping Mr Garcia return to the US, arguing that Ms Xinis had exceeded her authority when she ordered the action. But the US Supreme Court this week unanimously backed the order to help facilitate his release. In court documents, Mr Garcia's lawyers accused the US government of trying to 'delay, obfuscate and flout court orders, while a man's life and safety is at risk'. Judge Xinis pressed on Saturday: 'Where is he and under whose authority? I'm not asking for state secrets. All I know is that he's not here. The government was prohibited from sending him to El Salvador, and now I'm asking a very simple question: Where is he?' The meeting between Mr Trump and Mr Bukele on Monday highlights the El Salvadoran president's role as a top ally in Washington's war on undocumented immigration. Mr Bukele has agreed to accept migrants deported from the United States, locking up more than 250 in a notorious Salvadoran prison. Mr Trump said he was looking forward to the meeting and thanked Bukele for accepting 'some of the most violent alien enemies of the World'. 'Their future is up to President B and his Government,' Mr Trump said. 'They will never threaten or menace our Citizens again!'
CNN
07-02-2025
- Politics
- CNN
As USAID effectively disappears, a former Trump appointee says the decision is ‘deadly'
Former Trump appointee to the State department Matthew Bartlett tells Christiane Amanpour how the decision to put the majority of USAID staff on leave will impact people, and American influence, around the globe.
