Amid of five Nation tour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 4th visit of US reflects new developments for Indian American citizens. Reportedly, India is all about to open another consulate in Seattle to provide to the needs of large number of Indian-Americans living in the northwestern part of the US soon.
Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said after the conclusion of the talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Barack Obama at the White House “We hope to open a new Indian consulate in Seattle,”
The joint statement stated, “Both sides committed to open additional consulates in each other’s country. India will be opening a new consulate in Seattle and the US will open a new consulate at a mutually agreed location in India”.
Also, the joint statement also declared series of measures to encourage people to people contacts. As Modi and Obama proclaimed that the United States and India will be Travel and Tourism Partner Countries for 2017, and committed to facilitate visas for each other’s nationals.
Sparkling on the sturdy educational and cultural bonds among the two countries, Modi and Obama greeted the rising number of Indian students studying in the US which enlarged by 29 per cent to nearly 1,33,000 students in 2014-2015.
They also look forward to increased opportunities for American students to study in India. They also appreciated their governments’ joint efforts through the Fulbright-Kalam Climate Fellowship to develop a cohort of climate scientists to confront the shared challenge of global climate change.
The joint statement also given a conclusion and said “Recognizing its mutual goal of strengthening greater people-to-people ties, the two leaders intend to renew efforts to intensify dialogue to address issues affecting the citizens of both countries that arise due to differences in the approaches of legal systems, including issues relating to cross-country marriage, divorce and child custody”.
Through the Passport to India program, the US government encourages American students to study in India. At the same time, more than a million Americans traveled to India in 2015.