Yet this apparent thaw in relations lasted just three days. On September 19, Trump signed an executive order imposing an annual $100,000 fee on H-1B visas, 70% of which are held by Indian nationals. He also revoked America’s exemption for India’s involvement in Iran’s Chabahar port project and added India to its list of major drug transit or illicit drug-producing countries.
These actions, coming in rapid succession after the birthday call, have stunned Indian observers and policymakers alike. Rahul Gandhi, leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, India’s lower house of parliament, branded them a “diplomatic failure.”
