Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has announced that talks on the H-1B visa will no longer be part of international negotiations, marking a major shift in India’s economic strategy.
The statement came at a meeting at the Vanijya Bhavan in New Delhi, where Goyal explained the country’s focus on building meaningful relationships beyond visa-related topics.
Goyal said this following a recent trip to the United States, where he spent two days in New York meeting with top executives of major companies.
The discussions focused on the reforms implemented by the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to promote foreign investment in India, especially in the pharmaceutical and diamond sectors.
Surat, an important center of the diamond industry, was highlighted as an important location for investment opportunities.
During his visit, Goyal met with nearly thirty business leaders who are already operating in India, showing a strong interest in expanding their businesses.
After New York, he went to Washington, where he had a lunch meeting with 17 CEOs from the CEO forum, including top executives from Tata Sons.
The agenda also included a reorganization of the CEO platform, as the terms of several members are set to expire in December. Several Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) were signed to reinforce the commitment to strengthen business relations between India and the US.
Goyal’s trip also included discussions with small and medium enterprises (SMEs), research institutes, and educators, as well as meetings at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
He emphasized that this visit was different from the previous ones, as there were no “negative plans,” which showed a positive outlook on Indo-US relations.
Discussions were expanded to key areas such as clean energy development, technology transfer, digital communications, and defense cooperation. While the discussions on biofuels continue, Goyal noted limited progress on biofuels due to the upcoming US election.
Additionally, there have been discussions about establishing a stable exchange rate between the Indian rupee and the US dollar, which would benefit bilateral trade. Tourism and the development of the digital economy were also important aspects during his meetings.
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