U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry who was on a two-day visit to Delhi refused to address the visa issue, a source of concern for India's information technology industry.
John Kerry told the Indian delegates that planned measures, which could restrict the flow of information and technology professionals to the United States, are part of "legislative process and will take their own course," reported Economic Times Tuesday citing an un-named official of the Indian external affairs ministry.
In the name of immigration reformation, lawmakers in the United States are proposing measures that could restrict the Indian companies like Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys to send their employees on assignment to their client locations in the States.
The new measures will also increase fees on the H1-B temporary visas, which is bound to adversely affect margins of the software firms.
Recently, a delegation of Indian parliamentarians to the U.S. raised the visa issue with the U.S. lawmakers saying that the new immigration reform bill will not only hurt the Indian companies but also "U.S.-India relationships."
The U.S. India Business Council has also been urging the two countries to consider economy as the centerpiece of the relationship between the two countries and consider "free movement of technical professionals" as vital as the "free movement of manufacturing."
Addressing a press conference along with the U.S. secretary, Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid said that the visa row issue is likely to be discussed in detail at a meeting of American and Indian CEOs in Washington on July 12 where they will be joined by the commerce and finance ministers.
"We have brought to the attention of the secretary the deep concerns of the IT industry and he has promised to do whatever is possible from his end," said the Indian foreign minister.
