Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Friday said the decision of US President Donald Trump like imposition of high tariffs on India, would affect the American economy as well.
Speaking at an event in Delhi, he felt that educational institutions and others in the US may start campuses in India if visas and admissions are denied to Indians.
“It is not going to affect our economy, it is going to affect even US economy…. If they are reluctant to give visas, if they are reluctant to give admissions to Indians, all those institutes are going to come to India,” he said.
Reddy said Trump’s style of making sudden announcements would not work in the long run.
Taking a veiled dig at former Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, he said, “There was a Trump in Telangana also. But, people removed that Trump. Anyone who runs (administration) arbitrarily can be a Trump. Trump’s style of arbitrariness would not work for long”.
He also said Telangana was developing ‘Bharat Future City’, envisioned as one of the country’s most advanced urban centres meeting global standards. Spread over 30,000 acres in the first phase, the city will feature nine specialised zones, including an AI City, health zone and education zone, he added.
State IT and Industries Minister D Sridhar Babu, who condemned Trump’s move, said it would have an adverse impact on Indian tech companies and job aspirants.
“India tops the list of countries availing H-1B visas, followed by China. Either to bring pressure on the American government or to hold consultations over Trump’s actions, the BJP government at the Centre has completely failed in addressing the issue,” he told reporters.
He further alleged that the central government was troubling states over their rights. “Does the Centre not have the time to address the impact on southern states because of several American decisions in recent times?” he asked.
Sridhar Babu said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar must launch diplomatic efforts to find solutions. “The Centre must make efforts to address the problems of Indian IT professionals,” he said, pointing out that many families in Telangana depend on remittances from children working in the US.
Following the steep hike, he warned, software recruitment would decline, leading to job losses. Small software firms might even give up on the H-1B programme and shut down.
The decline in remittances would also impact real estate, gold purchases, and other sectors, the minister noted.
“We demand that the Centre find a solution through diplomatic negotiations. Why are they maintaining this strategic silence? Why is the Centre doing optics by showing Trump as a great friend? Very ineffective diplomacy by the Centre is happening,” he alleged.
(This copy has been updated with comments from IT minister Sridhar Babu)
