Taranjit Singh Sandhu in Chandigarh University Campus. (Express)Taranjit Singh Sandhu, Indian ambassador to US, said that they have made the US officials realize the importance of Indians who go to United States specially the professionals in the field of STEM (Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics).
Sandhu, while replying to the question of the delay in US visas told a gathering on Chandigarh University campus, Gharuan “About two third of the total Indians who travel to the US on various type of visas belong to the field of science and technology and they bring value and competitive edge. After the issue of visa delays was taken up by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar with his counterpart during his recent visit to the US, the situation has started improving. In a recent information released by US embassy in India, more than one lakh appointments of H and L workers have been recently released and with this the waiting time for US visas for Indians will come down drastically.”
He added that varsities such as Chandigarh University should create specialised domains such as space technology, information technology, agriculture, mathematics and other areas where the expertise of Indians have been acknowledged at the global level. “This will create a space where international students can be attracted from all over the world to come and study in India.
Recently the US Department of State launched Gandhi-King scholarship exchange initiative under which a number of US students can come and study in India. This scholarship also allows the faculty to visit Indian universities under the exchange programs and joint research initiatives,” Sandhu said while giving details about US students coming to India.
On the importance of New Education Policy, Sandhu added that Indian universities should reach out to their international counterparts for various initiatives such as setting up of offshore campuses of global universities at the existing campuses at Indian varsities. Campus to campus relations, twin programs and joint research initiatives are some of the key areas which need to be addressed by the Indian universities to globalise Indian education.
While replying to a question on the global standing of India, Sandhu said, “The global image of India has improved under the leadership of PM Modi and many global leaders have approached our PM to resolve international issues”.