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<ul><li>This is the second attack on the <keyword id="72335" type="General" weightage="40" keywordseo="indian-consulate" source="Orion">Indian Consulate</keyword> in <keyword id="12161" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="san-francisco" source="Orion">San Francisco</keyword> by Khalistani supporters within months. </li><li>The attack caused limited damage and no staff members were harmed.</li><li>India has requested partner countries to not give space to extremist Khalistani ideology.</li></ul> India's consulate in San Francisco came under an attack from <keyword id="116131" type="General" weightage="60" keywordseo="khalistan" source="Orion">Khalistan</keyword> supporters who tried to set the diplomatic facility on fire in the second such act of violence within months, drawing strong condemnation from the US government which termed it a "criminal offence". A video by Khalistan supporters, dated July 2 posted on Twitter, showed the act of arson at the Indian Consulate in San Francisco. The video, with the words "violence begets violence" emblazoned over it, also showed news articles related to the death of Canada-based Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Nijjar, one of India's most-wanted terrorists who carried a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head, was shot dead outside a gurdwara in Canada last month. Responding to the incident, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller in a tweet on Monday said: "The US strongly condemns the reported vandalism and attempted arson against the Indian Consulate in San Francisco on Saturday. Vandalism or violence against diplomatic facilities or foreign diplomats in the US is a criminal offence." Diya TV, a South Asian broadcast TV network in the US, said in a tweet that "a fire was set early Sunday morning between 1:30-2:30 am in the San Francisco Indian Consulate." "The fire was suppressed quickly by the San Francisco Department, the damage was limited and no staffers were harmed. Local, state and federal authorities have been notified," it said. The outlet also posted a video of the arson attack. A poster being shared on social media says that a "Khalistan Freedom Rally" will be organised on July 8 that will start in Berkeley, California and end at the Indian embassy in San Francisco. This is the second time within months that the Indian Consulate in San Francisco came under attack from Khalistani supporters. On March 19, a group of pro-Khalistan protesters attacked and damaged the Indian Consulate in San Francisco. Raising pro-Khalistan slogans, the protesters broke open the makeshift security barriers raised by the city police and installed two so-called Khalistani flags inside the Consulate premises. Two consulate personnel soon removed these flags. Ajay Bhutoria, an Indian community leader, said the attack on India's consulate in San Francisco is extremely concerning and must be condemned in the strongest possible terms. "It is deeply disturbing to see such acts of violence targeting diplomatic missions," he said. "The Indian consulate serves as an essential hub for providing consular services and fostering bilateral relations between India and the United States. It is crucial that the staff and members of the consulate are able to operate in a safe and secure environment, free from any threat or harm," he added. Bhutoria asked the San Francisco Police Department to swiftly investigate the incident and bring the perpetrators to justice. "Ensuring the safety and security of diplomatic missions is not only a responsibility of the host country but also a fundamental obligation under international law," he said. It is imperative that such incidents are met with a strong response from the authorities to deter any further attacks and ensure the safety of diplomatic personnel, he said. "Let us stand united against violence and work towards promoting peace, understanding, and harmonious relations," Bhutoria said. India's reaction External Affairs Minister <keyword id="491850" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="s-jaishankar" source="Orion">S Jaishankar</keyword> on Monday said India has asked its partner countries such as Canada, the UK and the US not to give space to "extremist Khalistani ideology" as it is "not good" for relations. He was responding to reports of Khalistani posters in Canada naming senior Indian diplomats. The minister said the issue will be raised with the government of that country. The "radical, extremist Khalistani ideology" is not good for India or its partner countries such as the US, Canada, the UK and Australia, he told reporters on the sidelines of a BJP outreach campaign. "We have already requested our partner countries like Canada, the US, the UK and Australia where sometimes Khalistani activities happen, not to give space to Khalistanis. Because their (Khalistanis) radical, extremist thinking is neither good for us nor for them nor our relations," the minister said. "We will raise the issue of posters with those governments," Jaishankar said. PTI YAS MRJ NSA AKJ NSA NSA

US condemns attempted arson at Indian Consulate in San Francisco by Khalistan supporters

India has temporarily suspends visa services in <keyword id="6356687" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="canada" source="Orion">Canada</keyword> as per a notice on India Visa Application Centre Canada's website. The notice states, "Due to operational issues, with effect from 21 September, 2023, Indian visa services have been suspended till further notice." Earlier, last evening, India advised its nationals in Canada and those contemplating travel there to exercise utmost caution in view of anti-India activities in some parts of that country. The advisory came amid further deterioration of diplomatic relations between the two countries following Canadian Prime Minister <keyword id="1740494" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="justin-trudeau" source="Orion">Justin Trudeau</keyword>'s allegations of a "potential" involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani separatist <keyword id="7575364" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Hardeep-Singh-Nijjar" source="Orion">Hardeep Singh Nijjar</keyword> in June. "In view of growing anti-India activities and politically-condoned hate crimes and criminal violence in Canada, all Indian nationals there and those contemplating travel are urged to exercise utmost caution," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in the advisory. It said, "Recently, threats have particularly targeted Indian diplomats and sections of the Indian community who oppose the anti-India agenda." "Indian nationals are therefore advised to avoid travelling to regions and potential venues in Canada that have seen such incidents," it said. The MEA said the Indian High Commission and consulates general will continue to be in contact with the Canadian authorities to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the Indian community in Canada. "Given the deteriorating security environment in Canada, Indian students in particular are advised to exercise extreme caution and remain vigilant," it said in the advisory. (With text inputs from PTI)

India temporarily suspends visa services in Canada

By Seema Hakhu Kachru Houston, Apr 10 () The Indian consulate here has come to the rescue of thousands of stranded Indians in America amidst the unprecedented emergency situation arising out of the global coronavirus pandemic and the resultant lockdown in many countries.The sudden cancellation of commercial flights to India and other parts of the world following the COVID-19 pandemic has left several Indian students, business travellers, family visitors in many US states. During these times of unexpected crisis, the Consulate General of India here, which looks after the Indo-US diplomatic matters in the American states of Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas, has been providing support and guidance to the stranded Indians anxious to be home soon. "The consulate has been working round the clock since March 14 because of the unprecedented emergency situation and is actively responding to the flood of inquiries and is providing assistance. However, there are no evacuation plans by India at this point as some believe. There are no flights going to India till April 14 and things may change depending on the situation,"Aseem Mahajan, the Indian Consul-General in Houston, told . Among the problems faced by the students in the universities include, lodging and medical issues."Thousands of Indian students in local universities and visitors stranded in the US continue with myriad problems like lack of boarding and lodging and medical issues. Some of the students had to vacate college dorms and are struggling to find food and shelter because of limited resources and no flights to return to India. Their parents are equally worried and have been continuously contacting the Consulate for help," he said.Mahajan urged the students to stay positive, calm, at home, follow social distancing and local advisory and focus on their studies as all schools have resumed classes online."Many universities are providing all possible help to students. They have been put in the residence halls for anyone wanting to stay through the semester. All residence halls have access to dining services and campuses are secure," he said.Some Indians including researchers, project engineers and others on a short visit to US, were scheduled to return after their project completion but are stranded now are facing visa issues, while some visiting aged parents, with pre-existing health issues are having the worst time procuring medications as their Indian prescription does not work here," Mahajan said.He said various private bodies such as the American Association of Physicians of Indian Orgin are offering medical consultations. Globally, over 1.5 million people have been infected so far by the coronavirus and the fatalities stands at nearly 95,000.The United States accounts for nearly 30 per cent of the all the COVID-19 positive cases and over 17 per cent of all fatalities.In the US, the virus has claimed over 16,000 lives and infected over 460,000 people. SHK RUP RUPRUP

Indian Consulate in Houston helping stranded Indians impacted by COVID-19 restrictions

The <keyword id="6354458" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="us" source="Orion">US</keyword> risks losing talented foreigners, particularly those married to other skilled professionals, to <keyword id="6356687" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="canada" source="Orion">Canada</keyword>, which grants work authorisation to spouses of all skilled foreign workers, says a new study. But granting employment authorisation to all spouses of <keyword id="6358066" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="H-1B-visa" source="Orion">H-1B visa</keyword> holders would encourage more skilled migrants, including Indians, to choose the US over Canada, the study by National Foundation for American Policy revealed. "The US can reap significant economic benefits, ease labour shortages, and attract more workers in the global competition for talent if it expanded current rules on work eligibility for the spouses of H-1B visa holders," the study, authored by Madeline Zavodny, said. The number of Indians who became permanent residents in Canada increased by over 115 per cent between 2016 and 2020 and 2021. In 2015, then President <keyword id="15962" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="barack-obama" source="Orion">Barack Obama</keyword> allowed the spouses of H-1B visa holders to work in the US via the H4 (dependent) visa. H4 visas are issued to dependent spouses and children who accompany H-1B, H-2A, H-2B, and H-3 visa holders to the US. The spouses of H-1B visa holders tend to be highly educated, many of them in STEM fields, and previously had careers of their own or worked to support their families. "Allowing the spouses of H-1B visa holders to work upon arrival would help recruit and retain skilled workers and increase the already-considerable economic benefits of the H-1B visa category," Zavodny said. She estimates that almost 90 per cent of the spouses of H-1B visa holders have at least a bachelor's degree, and over half have a graduate degree, based on American Community Survey data (2017-2019). Out of these 90 per cent of spouses, two-thirds are from India and 6 per cent are from China. "Almost half of spouses of likely H-1B visa holders who have a bachelor's degree had a STEM-related major. Among spouses of likely H-1B visa holders who are employed, 42 per cent are working in a STEM field," she noted. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regulation published in 2015 allows spouses who hold an H4 visa to apply for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD). Currently, H4 spouses can only apply for an EAD after their H-1B spouse is in the queue for a permanent visa. That typically does not occur until the H-1B has worked in the US for several years; indeed, some spouses may apply only after their H-1B spouse has worked in the US for at least six years. The H4 visa holder must be selected in the H-1B lottery, which only occurs once a year and has low odds of success. Long delays in processing H4 EADs have plagued the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the spouses who need the approval to work. Spouses of workers who hold an L-1 intracompany transferee visa, an E-1 treaty trader, an E-2 treaty investor, or E-3 specialty occupation worker from Australia visa are allowed to work. Spouses of these visa holders are "considered employment authorised incident to status", that is, their visa allows them to work and they do not need to apply separately for an EAD. Since mid-2015, some 171,000 H-4 visa holders have been approved for employment authorisation, a significant portion of whom are from India. In fiscal 2021, Indians bagged the highest number of H1B visas i.e., over 74 per cent of the allotments. Out of 4.07 lakh H1-B visas approved by the USCIS, 3.01 lakh were allotted to Indians whereas, 50,000 Chinese received the visas. Research shows that the H-1B visa category bumps up economic growth, creates jobs for American workers, and slows offshoring of high-paid jobs. "If allowed to work, these spouses would make considerable contributions to the US labour market as most of them would enter occupations with very low unemployment rates and high job vacancy rates," says Zavodny. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/september-earnings-on-track-but-its-time-to-tone-down-optimism-says-kotak-institutional-equities/articleshow/95272073.cms">September earnings on track, but it’s time to tone down optimism says Kotak Institutional Equities</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/vodafone-ideas-q2-loss-widens-to-7596-crore/articleshow/95282354.cms">Vodafone Idea’s Q2 loss widens to ₹7,596 crore</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/hdfc-reports-18-year-on-year-rise-in-q2-net-profit-to-4454-crore/articleshow/95279744.cms">HDFC reports 18% year-on-year rise in Q2 net profit to ₹4,454 crore</a>

US risks losing skilled professional H-1B visa holders to Canada

<ul class="summary-list"><li>An Indian government official was involved in an attempted assassination on US soil, the Justice Department says.</li><li>The official also appeared to be involved in the earlier killing of a Sikh separatist in Canada, according to the indictment.</li></ul>A member of the Indian government directed a foiled plot to assassinate a US citizen on American soil, according to a newly unsealed federal indictment.The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/us-attorney-announces-charges-connection-foiled-plot-assassinate-us-citizen-new-york">indictment</a>, brought by federal prosecutors in Manhattan Wednesday, identifies the Indian official only as "CC-1" and describes them as a "Senior Field Employee" within India's government with responsibilities in "Intelligence."The allegations are included in an updated criminal indictment against Nikhil Gupta, an Indian national who, according to a previous indictment first filed in June, hired a hitman for the assassination plot.The victim in the plot was meant to be Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/11/29/india-us-assassination-plot-sikh-pannun/">according to the Washington Post</a>. Pannum, a lawyer and citizen in the US and Canada, is a leader of a Sikh separatist movement that calls for an independent Sikh state in Punjab.In May, the Indian government employee recruited Gupta to orchestrate the plot to kill Pannum, according to the Justice Department indictment. The two met in person in New Delhi at the time, prosecutors say.Gupta, in turn, contacted another person to broker a deal with a hitman to carry out the plot in New York City, according to prosecutors. The two found another person who agreed to accept $100,000 to kill Pannum, the indictment says.The Indian government employee also said he had another "target" in California, according to the indictment."We will hit our all Targets," Gupta responded, according to prosecutors.The Indian government official appeared to be in a rush. On June 3, Gupta urged the assassin to finish the job, according to messages obtained by prosecutors."finish him brother, finish him, don't take too much time ... push these guys, push these guys .. . , finish the job," he told him over a phone call, according to prosecutors.On June 9, the Indian government employee arranged to deliver $15,000 in cash to the hired assassin in Manhattan as an advance for Pannum's murder, prosecutors say. The Indian government official also sent "the Victim's home address in New York City, phone numbers associated with the Victim, and details about the Victim's day-to-day conduct" to Gupta, who passed them along to the hired assassin, according to the indictment, and asked for "regular updates on the progress of the assassination plot."As it turned out, the assassin and broker were both working with US law enforcement, the indictment says.Prosecutors brought their first set of charges against Gupta on June 13 in <a target="_blank" href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.600440/gov.uscourts.nysd.600440.3.0.pdf">a short, three-page indictment</a>. Gupta was arrested in the Czech Republic on June 30 as part of an extradition treaty.<div type="image" title="Biden Modi" height="5264" width="7896" msid="105602147" hostid="261" sizebytes="1190018"></div><h2>Biden wants to court India. The assassination plots complicate things.</h2>The assassination plot has <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ft.com/content/66809c9a-1a0d-4e88-adbf-5b2baece6aac">created a wedge between India and the United States</a>, which seeks to create deeper ties with the country as a counterweight to China.President Joe Biden personally raised the issue with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G20 summit in September, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ft.com/content/54721d57-fe1b-4d28-ab9b-a664f110770b">according to the Financial Times</a>. Earlier this year, CIA Director William Burns and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines each flew to India to pressure its government to investigate the plots, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/11/29/india-us-assassination-plot-sikh-pannun/">according to the Washington Post</a>.India categorized Pannum as a terrorist in 2020 for his Sikh separatist activism and has outlawed Sikhs for Justice, the secessionist organization he works for, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ft.com/content/66809c9a-1a0d-4e88-adbf-5b2baece6aac">according to the Financial Times</a>.Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian Sikh separatist leader and friend of Pannum's, was killed in Surrey on June 18. In September, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-indian-government-nijjar-1.6970498">accused India's government of being involved in the attack</a>."Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar," Trudeau told members of Canada's parliament at the time. "Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty."<div type="image" title="Biden Modi" height="2666" width="4000" msid="105602148" hostid="261" sizebytes="386134"></div>Contact information for Gupta's attorney was not immediately available. Representatives for the White House and India's Ministry of External Affairs didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.Wednesday's 15-page indictment suggests the Indian government official was also involved in Nijjar's death.The official sent Gupta "a video clip showing Nijjar's bloody body slumped in his vehicle" just hours after the killing, the indictment says."GUPTA replied that he wished he had personally conducted the killing and asked CC-1 for permission to 'go to the field,'" the indictment says. "CC-1 responded that 'secrecy [is] important,' and 'it's better you do not get involved in action.'"An hour later, the government official sent Gupta Pannum's address, which Gupta forwarded to the undercover US law enforcement employee who had been hired for the assassination, the indictment says. Gupta told the undercover law enforcement employee that Nijjar "was also the target" but that he was only "#4, #3" on the list, according to the indictment."We have so many targets," Gupta told him, according to the indictment.<div type="image" title="Biden Modi" height="5264" width="7896" msid="105602147" hostid="261" sizebytes="1190018"></div>In the wake of the Canadian killing, Gupta told the undercover law enforcement employee to kill other people if they got in the way of assassinating Punnam, the indictment says."If he is not alone, [if] there are two guys with him in the meeting or something . . . put everyone down, put everyone down," Gupta said, according to the indictment.Gupta and the Indian government employee appeared to have plans to carry out more killings, according to prosecutors.In their communications, they appeared to indicate that they were organized, well-resourced, and methodological with their plans.In one video call with Gupta, the undercover law enforcement official saw three other men in the room "wearing business attire, sitting around a conference table," the indictment says."We are all counting on you," Gupta told him in the call.Gupta said they planned to hire the supposed assassin for more jobs in the United States and Canada if they could pull off Pannum's killing."we will give more bigger job more, more job every month," Gupta told the undercover law enforcement official in one call, according to the indictment. "every month 2-3 job."

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US condemns attempted arson at Indian Consulate in San Francisco by Khalistan supporters

PTI

India temporarily suspends visa services in Canada

BI India Bureau

Indian Consulate in Houston helping stranded Indians impacted by COVID-19 restrictions

PTI

US risks losing skilled professional H-1B visa holders to Canada

IANS

An Indian government official directed a plot to assassinate a Sikh US citizen on American soil, feds say — and more attempts were planned

Jacob Shamsian

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