New Delhi, Sep 6 : India on Thursday called upon the US to ensure a non-discriminatory and predictable approach to issuance of H-1B visas, largely availed of by Indian IT firms.

"I sought Secretary Pompeo's support to nurture our people-to-people links," External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said while addressing the media after participating in the first ever 2+2 India-US Ministerial Dialogue along with Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.

"Specifically, I conveyed our expectation for a non-discriminatory and predictable approach to the H-1B visa regime, given its high impact on innovation, competitiveness and people-to-people partnership, all of which are a vital source of strength for our relationship," Sushma Swaraj said.

In February, the US President Donald Trump came up with a new visa policy that makes the procedure for issuing H-1B visas tougher.

According to the new policy, the hiring company would have to prove that its H-1B employee at a third-party worksite has specific and non-qualifying speculative assignments in speciality occupation.

Sushma Swaraj said she mentioned to Pompeo that on the basis of the friendship between Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Indians believe that the US will not work against their interest.

"I have mentioned to him to maintain the trust of Indians," she said.

 

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Dhar (MP) (PTI): A 25-year-old woman and her lover have been arrested in the district for allegedly conspiring to kill her husband by hiring a contract killer, police said on Thursday.

The case was solved within 36 hours of the murder though the woman initially tried to mislead the police by claiming that robbers killed her husband, an official said.

Dev Krishna Purohit (28) was stabbed to death on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday at his house in Gondikheda Charan village, about 60 km from here. 

Superintendent of Police Mayank Awasthi told reporters that accused Priyanka Purohit (25) was married to Dev Krishna when she was around 15 years old. Priyanka moved to her matrimonial home after attaining adulthood but was unwilling to live with her husband, leading to frequent disputes between them. 

During investigation, it emerged that she was in a relationship with Kamlesh (32), the SP said. 

The duo allegedly hatched a plan to kill Dev Krishna and hired a man identified as Surendra for Rs 1 lakh do the job, he said

After Dev Krishna was killed, Priyanka told police that unidentified persons broke into the house, attacked her husband with a sharp weapon while holding her captive in another room, and fled with valuables. 

But the inconsistencies in her statements raised suspicion, and eventually she confessed to hatching the murder conspiracy, the SP said.

While she and Kamlesh were arrested, police are looking for the contract killer, the official added.