The 9/11 terrorist attacks that rocked the US has also slammed the brakes on Indian representation at the global Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT), an international association of leading life insurance and financial services professionals.
The US government is not keen to grant visas to first time US visitors, fearing that they might decide not to return to their own country. Out of the 6,147 LIC agents who qualified for membership of MDRT, only 265 applied to be members of this global body of agents.
About 30 went for the 2002 convention in June, as the rest were denied US entry visas. Taking up the cause for LIC agents, T K Banerjee, LIC zonal manager western region, said that US entry restrictions ought to be reduced, or else the MDRT should hold its annual meetings outside the US.