{"id":183978,"date":"2025-09-20T15:16:32","date_gmt":"2025-09-20T10:16:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/?p=183978"},"modified":"2025-09-20T15:16:32","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T10:16:32","slug":"congress-slams-modi-over-trumps-h-1b-visa-fee-hike-calls-him-a-weak-pm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/2025\/09\/20\/congress-slams-modi-over-trumps-h-1b-visa-fee-hike-calls-him-a-weak-pm.html","title":{"rendered":"Congress slams Modi over Trump\u2019s H-1B visa fee hike, calls him a &#8220;weak PM&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-183979\" src=\"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/assests\/2025\/09\/modi-mal.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"168\" \/><\/p>\n<p>New Delhi: Indian National Congress has strongly criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the US imposed a hefty USD 100,000 annual fee on H-1B visas for highly skilled workers, a move expected to hit Indian tech professionals the hardest.<\/p>\n<p>According to Kashmir Media Service, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, in a statement, said that Modi is a \u201cweak PM\u201d whose focus on \u201cstrategic silence\u201d and \u201cloud optics\u201d has harmed India\u2019s national interests.<\/p>\n<p>He emphasized that foreign policy should prioritize &#8220;India First&#8221; and safeguard the nation\u2019s interests, not revolve around superficial events or slogans. &#8220;Bear hugs, hollow slogans, and concerts are not foreign policy,&#8221; he said, criticizing Modi\u2019s approach to international relations.<\/p>\n<p>Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, also weighing in, posted on X, calling out the Indian prime minister&#8217;s weakness: \u201cI repeat, India has a weak PM.\u201d He also pointed out that 70% of H-1B visa holders are Indians, highlighting the significant financial losses India stands to face due to the visa hike.<\/p>\n<p>Kharge further slammed Modi, sarcastically referring to the &#8220;birthday return gifts&#8221; from the Trump administration, including the visa fee hike and the recent tariff threats. He also criticized the lifting of the Chabahar port exemption, calling it a blow to India\u2019s strategic interests.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cModi\u2019s foreign policy is about optics, not substance,\u201d Kharge said, urging Modi to shift focus back to India\u2019s long-term interests.<\/p>\n<p>The new US policy, signed by President Donald Trump on Friday, raises the H-1B visa fee to USD 100,000 annually. Trump cited national security concerns, claiming that abuse of the H-1B program is a threat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New Delhi: Indian National Congress has strongly criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the US imposed a hefty USD 100,000 annual fee on H-1B visas for highly skilled workers, a move expected to hit Indian tech professionals the hardest. According to Kashmir Media Service, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, in a statement, said that Modi is &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":183979,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-183978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-india"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/assests\/2025\/09\/modi-mal.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183978"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183978\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":183980,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183978\/revisions\/183980"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}