Union Minister Piyush Goyal says H1B visa thing of past after recent US visit

In a significant change in India's focus towards other areas of strategic partnerships, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said that H-1B visas will no longer be part of international dialogues.

Goyal made the statement during a meeting at Vanijya Bhavan in New Delhi where he underlined the need to focus on building strategic partnerships rather than just discussing visa-related topics.

He was recently in the United States on a two-day visit where he met with CEOs of major companies in New York.

Goyal said the discussions were focused on the reforms implemented by the Modi government to encourage foreign investments in India, including the pharmaceutical and diamond sectors.

One of the prominent hubs for the diamond industry — Surat — was pointed out as a significant place for investment opportunities.

During his visit, Goyal met around thirty business leaders having established ventures in India, hinting at continued interest in expanding business operations in India.

After New York, Goyal visited Washington where he met 17 CEOs, including a top executive from Tata Sons.

The discussions mainly surrounded restructuring the CEO forum as terms of several members are set to expire in December.

The agenda included restructuring the CEO forum, as several members' terms are set to expire in December.
Several Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) were signed to strengthen the business ties between India and the US.

Goyal's visit also included meetings with Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), think tanks, educators, and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

The union minister described this visit as different from previous trips, underlining that there were no "negative agendas" on the table, which reflected a more positive outlook towards Indo-US relations.

Discussions further extended to traditional sectors, involving potential partnerships in key areas such as clean energy development, technology transfer, digital telecommunications, and defense.

Despite ongoing talks on biosciences, Goyal said that progress on biofuels was limited due to the upcoming US elections.

Moreover, there were also talks about bringing a stable exchange rate between the Indian rupee and the US dollar to benefit bilateral trade.

Other areas of discussion included tourism and the development of the digital economy.