The Indian leader scheduled to arrive in Washington on Saturday night for a three-day visit.
The issue of visas for skilled workers will be one of the key talking points when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets with President Donald Trump for the first time in Washington, DC, next week.
“H-1B visa issue will be one of the issues on the table during PM’s visit,” Reuters quoted India’s Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia as saying.
The Indian leader is scheduled to arrive in Washington on June 24th evening. He will hold talks with Trump at the White House on Monday.
The H-1B visa issue remains a thorny issue between the two countries, especially after Trump signed an executive order to review the high-skilled visa program, which mostly affects India’s $150 billion information technology industry.
Modi was one of the first world leaders to congratulate Trump after his victory in November elections and after the inauguration in January. On his part, Trump called Modi and invited him to visit the United States this year.
The US president, who once described Modi as “great man”, also congratulated the premier on BJP’s victory in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections held in March.
“The president and the prime minister have had a number of positive phone conversations, and expect to further that discussion when they meet in person on June 26th,” White House press secretary Sean Spicer said in a press briefing last week.
“Whether it’s economic growth and reforms, fighting terrorism, expanding our cooperation as major defense partners,” he added.
“US-India trade has grown six-fold since 2000, from $19 billion to $115 billion in 2016. And the Indian economy is growing at over 7 percent. US energy and technologies, including natural gas, are helping to build Prime Minster Modi’s vision for a new India and creating thousands of US jobs in the process,” said the press secretary.