Mega India-US Deals: New H-1B Visa Rules, Space Pact, More Consulates

In a massive push to the Narendra Modi government's Make In India pitch, General Electric's aerospace arm has announced that it has teamed up with the state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to make fighter jet engines for Indian Air Force in India.

While questions on the extent to which the US will allow sharing of technology, this Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between GE Aerospace and HAL is without doubt among the biggest defence agreements in Indian history.

Also, India and the US are set to announce H-1B visa processing changes and open new consulates in a big step-up in diplomatic ties, sources have told NDTV.

India currently has five US consulates and the new one will be opened in Seattle. It will also cover Alaska, where India has a lot of interest. The new US consulates will be opened in Bengaluru and Ahmedabad.

The new visa rules will make it easier for Indians to live and work in the US. Under the new rules, it is learnt, a small number of Indians and other foreign workers on H-1B visas will be able to renew those visas in the US without having to travel abroad, a source said.

This will be a pilot programme that could be expanded in the coming years to a larger number of Indian, the source said. According to a report by news agency Reuters, Indian citizens are by far the most active users of the US H-1B program and made up 73 per cent of the nearly 442,000 H-1B workers in fiscal year 2022.

India will also be joining Artemis Accords, a US-led effort to send humans to the moon again by 2025, with the ultimate goal of expanding space exploration to Mars and beyond, White House sources said.

Another big development during the Prime Minister's trip is his invitation to Micron Technology, a prominent American chip maker, to encourage semiconductor manufacturing in India. The move is significant as semiconductors form an integral part of our lives today for their critical requirement ranging from electronic goods to automobiles.

The role of semiconductors in our daily lives was particularly amplified during the Covid pandemic when a global shortage pushed up prices of every commodity they were used in. The semiconductor outreach is also crucial against the backdrop of the government's continued efforts to broaden the footprint of Digital India.

The Prime Minister is on a State Visit to the US on the invitation of President Joe Biden. This tour is particularly significant because the US reserves the honour of a State Visit for its closest allies and this invitation points to a deepening of ties between the two countries.