Big concerns addressed, I am encouraged: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor lauds Modi's US visit

Speaking to ANI, Tharoor said, "The press statements by both the Prime Minister and President Trump are very encouraging because it looks like some of the big concerns we all had have been addressed, for example on the question of trade and tariffs. They have decided to sit down together and do a serious negotiation that would conclude by the fall which is September-October of this year.

"I think that's a very good outcome because otherwise the fear was there might be some hasty decisions made in Washington which would have affected our exports. This way there is time to discuss and negotiate. I welcome that."

Tharoor, who is the country's former Minister of State for External Affairs, said the US' promise to sell F-35 stealth aircraft will further embolden India's defence sector.

"On the defence front, the commitment to sell us F-35 stealth aircraft is very valuable because that's the state-of-the-art aircraft and certainly, we already have the Rafale and now with the F-35, the Indian Air Force should be in very good shape. So if we look at the main issues that we have heard about so far, I am very encouraged," the Thiruvananthapuram MP said.

"It looks to me as if we have got pretty much all that we could have expected at this time," he added at a time his party is trolling the Prime Minister's visit on social media.

PM Modi with US President Donald Trump at the White House | Photo courtesy: PIB

On the question of deportation of illegal immigrants, Tharoor backed Modi's remarks during a presser with Trump but underlined the Prime Minister's no reference to the deportees being sent in handcuffs and chains that had triggered a political war in the country.

".. on the illegal immigration issue, the only thing missing from what Prime Minister Modi said was the question of the manner in which those people were treated and sent back. I think otherwise his stand was absolutely correct. These are misled youth who have been encouraged or induced to migrate illegally and they should be taken back. If they are Indian citizens, they belong in our country, we take them back.

"But I hope that something was said behind closed doors, not perhaps in the press conference, but inside privately, that this manner of doing it, the handcuffs, the insults, the mistreatment, the military aircraft all that should be avoided in future and I am sure that if the Prime Minister has done that, that the American will want to listen."

Though Modi didn't speak on the return of Indian deportees in captive states, he reiterated New Delhi's eagerness to accept all "verified" illegal immigrants from his country during a joint presser with Trump.

In the larger context, the Prime Minister also took a strong note of the nationals being duped by the agents who helped them reach the US.

When asked about the US' crackdown on illegal immigration, Modi said at the presser, "This is not just the question of India but those who live in other countries illegally. India is ready to accept all its verified nationals who are illegally staying in the US.

"But that matter doesn't stop here. We need to bring a crackdown on the entire human trafficking ecosystem which misleads people from nominal families showing big dreams and bring them to the US."

Meanwhile, a second US plane carrying 119 illegal Indian migrants will land in Punjab's Amritsar on Saturday.

Among 119, 67 are from Punjab, 33 from Haryana, eight from Gujarat, three from Uttar Pradesh, two each from Goa, Rajasthan and Maharashtra while one each from Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.