Build at home: the lesson of the H-1B squeeze
Opinion: this editorial reflects the editor's view.
Washington has again tightened the H-1B visa, and Indian professionals feel it most, since Indians receive about 70 per cent of these visas. A report now warns the curbs could damage the India–US strategic partnership. India should say clearly that it values the free movement of talent. But it should also draw the obvious lesson: no country should build its prosperity on another's immigration rules.
Indian IT firms have already adapted. Wipro says most of its US workforce is local, and Infosys says most of its US employees do not need a visa. The next step is to make India the place where the best work happens. That needs world-class research universities, faster approvals for startups, lower costs of doing business, and more global capability centres in cities like Hyderabad. Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, home to major tech clusters, can lead. A 2026 paper in the Journal of Economic Perspectives found that visa caps and long green-card waits kept some skilled workers in India and led others to return. They should find opportunity waiting.
Diplomacy still matters, and India should press for predictable visa rules. But self-reliance is the better insurance.
The other side
Critics note that H-1B holders power research, startups and remittances, and that some US lawmakers have urged the administration to reconsider because of the damage to ties with India. They argue that India should negotiate a mobility framework, and that building domestic research capacity takes decades and heavy public funding.
