“I do think India has been recognised as a major foreign policy priority (in the Trump Administration) and one that from the president on down, people are vested in, and that’s very encouraging,” Richard Rahul Verma, the former US Ambassador to India, told PTI. I think it’s really important that India have those capabilities,” he said. Verma hoped that the US will “really pursue” the Major Defence Partner status granted to India, which is completely brand new and unique. Noting that there is immense potential in Indo-US bilateral trade, Verma said the sky is the limit and USD 500 billion is a modest goal. In April, Trump had signed an executive order for tightening the rules of the visa programme to stop “visa abuses”.

Source: Hindustan Times August 10, 2017 03:11 UTC