• Rubio says US immigration reforms are not aimed at India.
• Every country in the world has stupid people, says Rubio.
• Jaishankar says legal mobility should not suffer under US rules.
  

NEW DELHI: India voiced concern on Sunday over a US visa crackdown, striking a rare critical note even as it expressed broad alignment with Secretary of State Marco Rubio on other fractious issues.

Paying his first visit to India, Rubio said the two democracies were on the same page on all major issues, brushing aside recent unease in New Delhi over trade, China and the Iran war.

India’s foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar agreed that the two countries had a “convergence of national interests in many areas” but publicly took Rubio to task over President Donald Trump’s assault on visas.

Jaishankar said he “apprised Secretary Rubio of challenges that legitimate travellers face in respect of visa issuance”.

“While we cooperate to deal with illegal and irregular mobility, our expectation is that legal mobility should not be adversely impacted as a consequence,” he said, noting that visas were key for US-India tech cooperation.

Trump, who has made curbing non-Western immigration a key political priority, has ramped up restrictions and fees for H-1B visas used largely by Indian tech workers, sending applications tumbling.

The Trump administration followed up Friday by saying that applicants for permanent residency, even when in the United States legally, must leave for processing, likely splitting up many families for extended periods.

Trump has been influenced by nativist critics who say Indian workers take away skilled jobs from Americans who would have earned more.

Last month, Trump reposted a far-right commentator who described India as a “hellhole” and inaccurately alleged that Indian immigrants lack English proficiency.

Asked about racist remarks in the United States about Indians, Rubio said, “every country in the world has stupid people”.

“Our nation has been enriched by people who come to our country,” said Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants.

He said the immigration reforms were “not India-specific” but in response to a “migratory crisis” in the United States.

Aligned on ‘all’ issues

Rubio, who is paying an unusually long four-day, four-city trip to India, called the country “one of our most important strategic partners in the world”.

“It begins with the fact of our shared values. We are the two largest democracies,” Rubio said.

“Our nations are strategically aligned on all of the key issues that will define the new century — all the great challenges that are before us now in the modern era,” he said.

Such grand statements of US-India partnership would have raised a few eyebrows over the past two decades as Washington put a top priority on building ties with the billion-plus nation.

But Trump abruptly shook up core assumptions of US foreign policy. He temporarily imposed punishing tariffs on India, held a friendly visit last week to China and has hailed India’s historic adversary Pakistan, which has positioned itself as the key mediator on the Iran war.

Pakistan has also heaped praise on Trump over his diplomacy in a short war last year with India, which launched unprovoked strikes following the Pahalgam attack in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi annoyed Trump by refusing to credit him with ending the war.

• US to ‘lift’ blockade on Iranian ports under agreement.
• Sanctions waivers to ‘allow’ Iranian oil exports again.
• Iran ‘commits’ to not pursue nuclear weapons capability.
  

The United States and Iran are close to signing a deal involving a 60-day ceasefire extension, during which the Strait of Hormuz would be reopened, Iran would be able to freely sell oil, Axios reported on Saturday, citing a US official.

According to the report, negotiations would be held on curbing Iran’s nuclear programme, and during the 60-day period, the Strait of Hormuz would be open with no tolls. Iran would agree to clear the mines it deployed in the strait to let ships pass freely, the source added.

In exchange, as part of the proposed deal, the US would lift its blockade on Iranian ports and issue some sanctions waivers to allow Iran to sell oil freely, the report added.

The draft agreement also includes commitments from Iran to never pursue nuclear weapons and to negotiate over a suspension of its uranium enrichment programme and the removal of its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, the Axios report said.

Iran gave the US, through the mediators, verbal commitments about the scope of the concessions it’s willing to make on suspending enrichment and giving up the nuclear material, two sources told Axios.

The US would also agree to negotiate over lifting sanctions and unfreezing Iranian funds during the 60-day period, the Axios report said.

The White House did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment on the report.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said that a “largely negotiated” memorandum of understanding on an Iran peace deal would reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump posted on social media that the emerging agreement would reopen the strait, the vital shipping passage whose closure has sparked a global energy crisis since the US and Israel launched the war on Iran in February. He did not say what else would be included in an agreement.

“Final aspects and details of the Deal are currently being discussed, and will be announced shortly,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

U Secretary of State Marco Rubio, on a visit to India, said more news on Iran could come on Sunday and there was a possibility of good news on the strait over the next few hours.

‘Issues still need to be discussed’

Separately, Iran has said that diplomatic discussions this week have shown progress toward easing tensions, although several important issues still require further negotiation through mediators.

“The trend this week has been towards a reduction in disputes, but there are still issues that need to be discussed through mediators. We will have to wait and see where the situation ends in the next three or four days,” said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei.

Baghaei said the issue of the US blockade on Iran’s shipping was important, but that its priority was ending the threat of new US attacks and the ongoing conflict in Lebanon, where Hezbollah are fighting Israeli troops who have moved into the south.

Iran’s ambassador to Pakistan says a positive step concerning Islamabad-mediated talks between the Islamic Republic and the United States is possible if the other side displays sufficient commitment.

“With cautious optimism, we can hope that, upon realization of such commitment on the part of the opposite party, a positive step is taking shape,” Reza Amiri Moghaddam said on Saturday.

He said the positions of the Islamic Republic, based on dignity, the steadfastness of its brave Armed Forces, and the resistance of the brave Iranian nation, as well as the initiative and selfless efforts of the Pakistani mediator, are to be credited with this potential step.

The envoy made the remarks after being informed by Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi of the developments that took place during the latter’s earlier trip to the Iranian capital Tehran as part of Islamabad’s mediation efforts.

“I hope that the sincere efforts” invested by the Pakistani government, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Commander of the Pakistani Armed Forces, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Muhammad Ishaq Dar, and Naqvi “in their mediation initiative and sincere diplomatic efforts will lead to lasting peace in the region,” Amiri Moghaddam added.

Recent diplomatic activity between Tehran and Washington has been facilitated through Islamabad, with officials describing an emerging framework for a potential 14-point memorandum aimed at de-escalating tensions.

Also on Saturday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said the document was intended to address several core issues, including cessation of aggression, halting the US’s illegal naval blockade against the Islamic Republic, and securing the release of frozen Iranian assets.

He said after several weeks of dialogue between the two sides, the “process appears to be moving toward a convergence of views,” while stressing that Iran remains cautious about the durability of US positions.

According to the official, discussions at this stage are focused on drafting a structured memorandum of understanding, rather than finalizing a comprehensive agreement, with further negotiations expected over a 30 to 60 day period once the framework is completed.