Shashi Tharoor surprised at Indian-American diaspora's ‘silence’ over H-1B visa fee, Trump tariffs

Shashi Tharoor said that one of the congresswomen shared how she didn't receive any call from the Indian-American voters regarding Donald Trump's decisions.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday raised a question over the silence of the Indian-American diaspora on matters affecting the India-US ties, including President Donald Trump's 50 per cent tariffs and the recent move to hike H-1B visa application fee to $100,000.

Shashi Tharoor said that if the Indian-American population cares about its ties with its motherland, then it must "fight and speak for it". (PTI)

Tharoor's remarks came after he led a critical meeting between a US Congressional delegation and India's Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs.

The US delegation comprised five members, all Democrats, who expressed strong support for the India-US relationship despite the recent challenges.

The meeting between the two sides addressed several concerns, including those about the H-1B visa fee hikes, 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods, and US sanctions on Chabahar Port, among others. Some Congressional delegates criticised Trump's decisions.

Highlighting the silence of the Indian-American diaspora, Tharoor said that during the meeting, one of the congresswomen shared how she had not received a single phone call from the diaspora members over Trump's moves.

"I do want to stress that one of the points we raised was why the Indian-American diaspora has been so silent about all of this. One of the congresswomen said that not one phone call has come to her office from any Indian-American voter asking for her to support a change of policy, and this is something that is surprising and that I think we all need to reach out to the Indian-American population saying, if you care about the relationship with your motherland, then you also have to fight for it, speak for it and make more of an effort to press your political representatives to stand up for India," Tharoor told news agency ANI.

He added, "But the ones who came here are already friends of India, well disposed towards India, and they have spoken very warmly and positively of the friendship."

Shashi Tharoor hailed India's economic resilience and the contributions of its diaspora. He said that the American opinion, including that of the Congress, remains committed to strengthening the India-US ties.

"We had a very good visit from a US Congressional delegation which consisted of 5 members of the US House of Congress who happened all to be from the Democratic Party and four of them were from California, but they had tremendous interest in India," he told ANI.

Tharoor emphasised that the most important message from the US delegation was that the majority of the American opinion "is very strongly committed to the Indian relationship, the strategic partnership, that India is valued and that they remain determined to strengthen that relationship despite the recent setbacks that we are familiar with, the H-1B visa setback, the 50 per cent tariff setback, the sanctions on the Chabahar Port and various other things which have made life a bit difficult in the Indo-US relationship currently".

Earlier, in an interview with The Wire, Tharoor said that Trump's decision to hike the H-1B visa application fee to a whopping $100,000 may be seen as "the third whammy", but actually it turned out to be a good thing for India "in the long run".

While he said that the move was "unexpected" and it may hurt some individuals and firms in the short term, it might actually strengthen India's hands in the long run. "Let's not allow ourselves to constantly feel that we're the victims in this exercise," he added.

Last week, President Donald Trump signed a proclamation raising the H-1B visa application fee to $100K and thereby restricting the entry of holders of such visa. The Trump administration said that this would ensure that companies bring in foreign employees for high-skilled jobs that cannot be filled by American workers.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Trump administration also proposed a new and stringent H-1B visa selection process, shifting from the current randomised lottery scheme to a more weighted one that favours high-skilled and better-paid workers.