No change in US visa policy towards Indian students

The US has said that there is no change in its policy towards issuing visas to Indian students.

"I don't think we've changed our policy with regard to the way we interview applicants," State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland told reporters at her daily news conference.

"I think what we are doing is making sure that the sponsoring organisations truly are what they say they are in the United States; that if they say that they are bringing students over to educate them, that they intend to educate them, not put them to work, et cetera," she said.

Nuland said the US supports

the recent initiative of opening community colleges in India on the pattern of those in Washington.

Last week, education ministers of four Indian States -- Punjab, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir -- visited several US cities to have a first hand experience of the community colleges in Washington.

"Well, obviously, we support this initiative. We have been working with the Indian side to flesh out the initiative that was agreed between the President and the prime minister through our Education Bureau in Washington.

And obviously, we are responsible for the visa issuance for the various folks studying in the United States," Nuland said.