Jaishankar raises worries about US visas, and Blinken promises to quickly build up the backlog

The Biden administration has a strategy that will be implemented in the upcoming months, according to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who gave assurance on Tuesday that the US is "building back" on the backlog of visa requests from Indian people.

COVID placed restrictions on us regarding the amount of visitors we could have in our embassy at any given time, among other things. Now, with those booming resources, we are reestablishing ourselves with great determination. When it comes to India, we have a strategy to deal with the backlog ऑफ़

visas that have accumulated In the upcoming months, I believe you'll see it play out, Blinken remarked during a news conference.

He made them during a meeting in Washington with Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar.

Jaishankar raised issues and difficulties that Indians have encountered when applying for visas to live and work in the United States.

In his introductory remarks, Jaishankar stated that there had recently been some difficulties. "I noted it to Secretary Blinken and his staff, and I have every faith that they will look at some of these concerns seriously and constructively," he added.

According to the US State Department website, the wait time for Indians seeking a visiting visa to the US has increased to 800 days. For other non-immigrant visas as well as student/exchange visitor visas, the waiting time is close to 400 days.

Blinken said that the Covid-19 epidemic was to fault for the backlog, adding, "I'm quite sensitive to this." "During COVID, we experienced a sharp decline in our capacity to provide visas. And the final thing we desire to do is make that more challenging. Instead, we aim to make it easier. So please be patient. The next several months will see how this plays out, but we're absolutely committed to it "Blinken later on.

During the joint news conference, Blinken added that the relationship between India and the United States is one of the most important in the world.

"One of the most important partnerships in the world is that between India and the US. This includes addressing issues like food security, climate change, health security, and maintaining a free and open international order. In the past

Over the past several years, we have made significant strides in strengthening that bilateral collaboration — through organisations like QUAD, the G20, and global institutions like the UN, "Here, Blinken remarked.

In December, India will assume the Group of Twenty's (G20) chairmanship.

Blinken, who is in charge of the presidency, stated: "With India holding the chair at the UNSC in December and taking over the presidency at the G20 next year, we will be able to push more global collaboration and action together."

Earlier, during the Quad conference, which included the involvement of foreign ministers from India, the US, Australia, and Japan, external affairs minister S. Jaishankar met with Blinken.