BJP govt has failed to protect India from arbitrary tariffs, visa fees: Akhilesh Yadav
Lucknow (PTI): Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav has attacked the BJP government commenting that an emergency has struck India's foreign policy under it and that it has failed to protect the country from arbitrary tariffs and visa fees.
He also said the government has failed to protect Indians living abroad from violent attacks.
In a post on microblogging site X on Saturday, Yadav said, "An emergency has struck foreign policy under the BJP rule: The BJP government is unable to protect India from arbitrary tariffs and arbitrary visa fees."
He said the government is unable to keep up relations with neighbouring countries, adhere to the country's historical non-alignment policy, protect overseas Indians from handcuffs, chains, public humiliation and violent attacks, and bring any country along on the matter of terrorism.
The post in Hindi added that the BJP government has put the foreign policy aside.
Speaking to reporters at the party office in Lucknow, the Samajwadi Party chief slammed the Centre over the US hiking H1-B visa fee, which is expected to affect several Indians.
"Your foreign policy has failed in the foreign countries. Your economic policies have failed. You have failed in making relationships," he said.
Yadav also attacked Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, alleging that he wanted guns in people's hands, not books.
"Try to remember, he (Adityanath) does not want anyone to go abroad, neither for studies nor for work, but only to operate guns. People can go to Russia, join the army there. Go to Israel, and fight along with its army. (He wants) those with H-1B visas to go for good jobs," Yadav said.
The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said Indians will only get visa relief once the Narendra Modi-led Central government is out of power.
US President Donald Trump had on Friday signed a proclamation that will raise the fee for H-1B visas to a staggering USD 100,000 (Rs 88 lakh) annually.
The Trump administration's latest move to crack down on immigration is likely to impact thousands of Indian professionals.
White House Staff Secretary Will Scharf said the H-1B non-immigrant visa programme is one of the most abused visa systems in the country's current immigration system, and the hike in visa fees is intended to allow only highly skilled labourers, who work in fields where Americans are not employed, to enter the United States.
The move, he said, is aimed at protecting American workers from being replaced.
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Putin meets Iran's FM Araghchi, says Russia ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia
Moscow (PTI): Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday met Russian President Vladimir Putin, who hailed the Iranian people for fighting bravely and heroically for their sovereignty and said Moscow is ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia as soon as possible.
Araghchi, who held talks with Omani and Pakistani leadership before arriving in Russia, met Putin in St. Petersburg and thanked him for supporting Iran, state-owned TASS news agency reported.
"Russia is ready to do everything in its power to ensure that peace in the Middle East is achieved as soon as possible," Putin said during his meeting with Araghchi, which was also attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Revealing that he received a message from Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei last week, Putin asked Araghchi to convey his "gratitude for this message and best wishes for his health and well-being."
He praised the Iranian people for fighting "bravely and heroically" for their sovereignty, Iran's state-run PRESS TV reported.
"We really hope that, based on the courage and desire for independence, the Iranian people, under the guidance of the new leader, will weather this difficult period of trials and peace will come,” Putin said.
He also stressed that Russia “intends to maintain” its strategic relations with Iran.
Araghchi said that the world witnessed Iran’s strength in countering the US during the recent war, and that the Islamic Republic is a "stable and powerful establishment."
"With their courage, the Iranian people succeeded in resisting the US aggression and will be able to endure it,” he said.
He said that it became clear that Iran has “great friends and allies” like Russia, and conveyed “warmest greetings” from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian to the Russian leader.
Araghchi said relations between Moscow and Tehran represent a “strategic partnership at the highest level” and will continue to develop "regardless of circumstances."
"We are grateful to you for the solid and strong positions in support of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said.
Foreign Minister Lavrov said that the talks between President Putin and the Iranian Foreign Minister were "useful and constructive."
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov later said that Russia is "ready to provide any good offices, any mediation services that are acceptable to the parties."
"We will be ready to do everything so that ultimately peace ensues, guaranteed peace, and that there is no return to hostilities," Peskov was quoted as saying by TASS.
He was asked how Moscow can assist in future negotiations on the Iranian settlement.
Araghchi arrived in Russia after his whirlwind trip to Islamabad, which, according to him, was “very productive” and involved “good consultations" with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, amid uncertainty over the second round of peace talks to resolve the war in West Asia.
"We held good consultations with our friends in Pakistan. The trip was successful. We assessed the outcome of our recent (meetings) and discussed in what direction and under what conditions talks can move on,” Araghchi said in a video posted on his Telegram channel upon his arrival in St Petersburg.
Referring to the second round of talks between the US and Iran to resolve the conflict in West Asia, Araghchi said: "Developments have taken place in the negotiations."
"Despite some progress in earlier rounds, the talks failed to reach their objectives due to the Americans' approach, the excessive demands they made, and the wrong approaches they adopted. Therefore, it was necessary to consult with our friends in Pakistan to review the latest situation,” Iran's official news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.
He said that the trip to Pakistan was a good opportunity to review developments related to the US-Israeli war against Iran, expressing confidence that “these consultations and coordination between the two countries will be highly significant.”
Araghchi arrived at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport early Monday, where he was welcomed by Russian officials and Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, the report said.
The first round of peace talks between Iran and the US, held on April 11 and 12, failed to bring the desired result for the parties to the conflict.
The Iranian minister arrived in Islamabad for the second time on Sunday after a short visit to Oman, where he held talks with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said on security in the Strait of Hormuz and diplomatic efforts to end the Iran-US conflict.
After Araghchi left Pakistan for Oman on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced that US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would no longer be going to Islamabad for talks with Iran, contending that Washington held all the cards on the matter.
Trump on Sunday reiterated that the US and Iranian officials can talk by phone for a peace solution to the conflict.
On Tuesday, Trump extended the two-week ceasefire with Iran indefinitely to give Tehran more time to prepare a unified proposal to end the war, just hours before the truce was set to expire.
The war began when the US and Israel jointly attacked Iran on February 28, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several top commanders. The retaliation by the Islamic Republic extended the war to the entire Gulf region.
