Countries blocking foreign talent will be ‘net losers’, says Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, in an apparent reference to the Trump administration’s decision to impose new fees on H-1B visas, said that countries putting up too many roadblocks for foreign professionals will be “net losers”.

His comments come in the backdrop of the US’ decision to impose fresh fees on H-1B visas in line with President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration.

"That they would be net losers if they erect too many roadblocks to the flow of talent. Particularly if you move into an era of advanced manufacturing, you will need more talent," Jaishankar said. He was addressing an interactive session at a conclave on mobility in New Delhi on Wednesday (December 3).

‘Allowing foreign talent mutually beneficial’

Responding to a question on the larger issues linked to immigration, including concerns over the H-1B visa programme, Jaishankar said that India needs to convince other nations that the use of "talent across boundaries is to our mutual benefit.

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"Often the people in the forefront of entrepreneurship and technology would actually make the case for mobility. It is the people who..have a certain political base or a constituency to address, who may oppose it, and they will probably reach some modus vivendi eventually," he said, However, he did not mention any country.

The China factor

Jaishankar argued that the resistance to the mobility of talents in some countries to efforts to get certain companies shift their manufacturing hubs from China.

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Under the H-1B visa programme, companies recruit foreign workers with specialised skills to work in the US, initially for three years that can be renewed for three more years.

Indians made up an estimated 71 per cent of all approved H-1B applications in recent years, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

‘If not people, jobs will travel’

"If there is pressure on jobs in many developed countries, the pressure is less because people came in, in those sectors. It is more because they allowed manufacturing to go out and you know where," said Jaishankar.

"If it becomes harder for people to travel, the work is not going to stop. If people don't travel, the work will travel," he added.

On importance of legal mobility

Jaishankar also spoke extensively on the importance of legal mobility.

"In a globalised world, I think we often, when we talk of our external engagement, especially our economic engagement, we tend to really focus on trade. Now, there is nothing wrong with that," he said.

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"But we often neglect work and the mobility associated with work. Just to give you a sense of what it is to we don't pay enough attention. Last year, remittances to India were USD 135 billion. That's about roughly twice our exports to the United States," he said.

"Now, it's just the remittances. Because think of the people abroad, their own livelihood, the assets they have created there," he said.

Cations against illegal mobility

At the same time, Jaishankar also cautioned against illegal mobility and listed possible fallout of it.

"If you look at trafficking per se, all the associated crimes, and often it leads people with agendas of various kinds, political agendas, separatist agendas, they all join up to the illegal mobility side of it," he said.

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Jaishankar also highlighted how the government has been trying to address the problems of Indians living abroad.

"In the last three years, only in the Gulf, we actually have addressed 138,000 grievances using the Madad portal," he said.

Govt help for the Indian diaspora

The external affairs minister said India has also been extending help to Indians and the Indian diaspora under the framework of the Indian Community Welfare Fund.

"In the last three years, 238,000 people have benefited from the use of this Community Welfare Fund. These are people for whom we may have bought tickets back home, who had legal cases abroad. In some cases, they may have passed away, so their last rights were done," he said.

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Jaishankar also highlighted the importance of mobility agreements India has linked with many countries.

"Clearly, today, intergovernmental agreements dealing with mobility are a very important part of our diplomacy. We have 21 such agreements in addition to which we have mobility provisions in some of the free trade agreements that we have done," he said.

"And we certainly, in many relationships, see that as actually adding a new dimension to the relationship," he added.

(With agency inputs)