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India is focused on ensuring greater mobility for its high-skilled professionals rather than broader migration issues, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Friday, as questions were raised over New Zealand's proposed stricter immigration rules ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the country.
Responding to a question during a special briefing on Prime Minister Modi's visit to Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand, Secretary (East) in the MEA, Rudrendra Tandon, said India was aware of the wider global debate on migration but stressed that New Delhi's priority remained facilitating the movement of skilled professionals. "Well, you know, on the migration question, we are aware that there's a lot of discussion in many countries, not just New Zealand, on the whole issue of migration. But our focus is actually mobility. It is part and parcel of our trade agreements, and it's very important to maintain that distinction," Tandon said. He added that the Government of India has been working to improve opportunities for high-skilled Indian workers, including CEOs and technical experts. He said, "The Government of India has been trying to improve the prospects of mobility for our high-skilled workers, our CEOs, our technical experts, because experience has shown us that over a period of time, the hassles faced by our technical experts do create the effect of a de facto non-tariff barrier." Referring to the recently signed India-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement on April 27, Tandon said the issue had been addressed as part of the pact. "In fact, this question was tried to be addressed in the recently signed India-New Zealand FTA. And of course, once it comes into effect, we will know how successful that has been," he added. On the aspect of the Indian diaspora during the Prime Minister's visit, Tandon said community engagement would remain an important element of the tour. "The demand from the Indian community is always so strong that it has become an almost standard feature of all his visits. Because there is a significant diaspora in all three countries that he is visiting, there will certainly be a diaspora component. It will be formatted differently in different countries," he said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as part of his upcoming three-nation visit, will travel to Indonesia on July 8-9, Australia on July 10 and New Zealand on July 11. The visit to Indonesia will see a focus on reviewing the bilateral partnership, while in Australia, PM Modi will participate in the third India-Australia Annual Summit process. Covering New Zealand in the last leg of his visit, PM Modi would become the first Indian Prime Minister to visit the country in forty years. (ANI)
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