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Friday February 14, 2025

India to take back 18,000 nationals to avert trade war with US

India's cooperation is driven by its desire to maintain strong relationship with US, which is crucial for its economic and strategic interests

By News Desk
January 22, 2025
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (left) greeted by US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington. — Reuters/File
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (left) greeted by US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington. — Reuters/File

WASHINGTON: India is taking proactive steps to collaborate with the Trump administration in the United States, aiming to avoid a trade war and strengthen bilateral ties.

A significant aspect of this cooperation involves the repatriation of Indian citizens residing illegally in the US. Estimates suggest that around 18,000 Indian migrants are set to be deported, although the actual number could be substantially higher, an international agency reported.

This move is seen as a strategic effort by India to appease the Trump administration, which has been vocal about its intentions to crack down on illegal immigration. India hopes that by cooperating on the issue of illegal migration, the Trump administration will reciprocate by protecting legal immigration channels, including student visas and the H-1B program for skilled workers.

India’s cooperation is also driven by its desire to maintain a strong relationship with the US, which is crucial for its economic and strategic interests.

The Indian government’s efforts are also influenced by its concerns about secessionist movements overseas. For instance, the Khalistan movement, which seeks to establish a separate Sikh state on Indian soil, has been a subject of concern for Indian authorities. By taking back illegal migrants, India hopes to disrupt the support networks of such movements and prevent them from gaining traction.

In another development, following an executive order signed by Donald Trump suspending the resettlement of all refugees to the United States for an indefinite period of time has sparked of a wave of anxiety among the over 1,600 Afghans eligible to enter the US as refugees. These refugees will now be pulled from manifests for flights leaving the region for the US as of 27 January. That leaves one week for advocates of Afghan refugees to lobby for a separate executive order or amendment to exclude them from the ban.

The prospective Afghan refugees, including family members of hundreds of active-duty service personnel and children waiting to be reunited with family members already in the US, according to a leading refugee resettlement activist and a US official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Many of those who have applied are in danger and have time-sensitive reasons to leave the country or neighbouring Pakistan because of their past association with the US, they said.

The decision threatens to overturn a promise made to Afghans across multiple administrations – including by Trump and the previous president, Joe Biden – to recognise those who aided US troops and non-governmental organisations before the US-backed government collapsed in 2021 and the Taliban swept back to power. “We can’t afford to leave these folks behind, right? These folks are in hiding there,” said Shawn VanDiver, a navy veteran and the founder of AfghanEvac, which advocates for the evacuation and resettlement of at-risk Afghans. Senior members of the Trump administration, including the incoming national security adviser, Mike Waltz, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, have been vocal supporters of the resettlement programme.

The executive order published by the White House, titled Realigning the United States Refugee Admissions Program, suspends the admission of refugees to the US under the program as of 27 January and also will prevent the submission of further applications.

In the only exception to the blanket ban, the secretary of state and the secretary of homeland security can decide jointly to allow the admission of refugees on a case-by-case basis.

Most of the Afghan citizens eligible for refugee status had already passed background and security checks and were either scheduled on resettlement flights or in the final stages of the checks including an in-person interview. Those affected by Monday’s order include more than 200 minors who have relatives in the US and are eligible for resettlement under a family reunification scheme. It does not affect those who qualified for special immigrant visas (SIV) under a separate scheme that applied to those working with the US armed forces for an extended period of time.