External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar will meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in New York on Monday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), officials said.
The discussions will follow on from efforts to enhance bilateral ties even as differences on some recent issues are addressed, sources said.
This will be the third in-person meeting between Jaishankar and Rubio in 2025. Their most recent engagement was on July 1 in Washington, during the Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting. Earlier, Jaishankar had met Rubio in January, soon after Rubio assumed office, again on the sidelines of a Quad gathering in Washington.
Monday's session is especially important, as it is taking place at a time when ties have been strained due to disagreements over trade tariffs and India's ongoing importation of Russian oil. Tensions heightened further after the US imposed a 50 per cent tariff on Indian goods, which took effect on August 27.
The talks also come at a time when Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal visited the US to head a high-level delegation for trade negotiations.
Another of the most critical areas of concern is the Trump administration's recent action in substantially increasing H-1B visa fees. The presidential proclamation has increased the price of applying for an H-1B visa to $100,000, alarming the tech industry and casting a cloud of uncertainty over professionals reliant on the program.
Reacting to the misgivings, the White House made it clear on Saturday in an exclusive statement to IANS that the new regulation is narrow in scope. "This is a one-time fee that applies only to the petition. It only applies to new visas, not renewals or current visa holders. It will first apply in the upcoming lottery cycle," a White House official told IANS.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also made the clarification on X, posting that people already in possession of existing H-1B visas would not be subject to the new fee when re-entering the US. She explained: those already "hold H-1B visas and are currently outside of the country right now will not be charged $100,000 to re-enter. H-1B visa holders can leave and re-enter the country," she posted.
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