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India and China bore the maximum brunt of tougher immigration policy unveiled by the Trump administration which issued 2.5 lakh fewer visas in the first eight months of 2025 compared with the same period in 2024, according to a media report. From January to August 2025, the State Department approved 11 per cent fewer permanent resident and temporary visas compared with the same period a year before, according to State Department data released in early March. These visas are generally issued for students, workers, and family members of citizens and legal residents. The 11 per cent drop doesn't include tourist visas, which also fell during the same period, the Washington Post reported on Sunday. According to the report, visas for Chinese and Indian nationals fell by about 84,000 compared with the same period in 2024, largely reflecting a drop-off in international students and workers from those countries. Business and tourism visas declined by about 3.4 per cent in the first eight
China on Friday welcomed the appointment of veteran diplomat Vikram Doraiswami as the new Indian Ambassador, expressing hope that he will make a positive contribution to the sustained improvement of Sino-India ties. Doraiswami, a 1992-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, is currently serving as the Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. The 56-year-old diplomat was Thursday appointed as India's new envoy to China. He will succeed Pradeep Kumar Rawat. He is expected to take up the new assignment shortly. Reacting to Doraiswami's appointment, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a media briefing that envoys are an important bridge for fostering friendly and cooperative relations between nations. China welcomes India's new ambassador and will provide all facilitation to take up his post in China and looks forward to his positive role in improving India-China relations, Lin said, while replying to a question on Doraiswami's appointment. "I noted that Ambass
Seasoned diplomat Vikram Doraiswami was on Thursday appointed as India's new ambassador to China, a move that comes amid efforts by the two sides to rebuild ties that came under severe strain following the over four-year military standoff in eastern Ladakh. Doraiswami, a 1992-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, is currently serving as Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. He will succeed Pradeep Kumar Rawat. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said Doraiswami is expected to take up the new assignment shortly. In the last few months, India and China have stepped up efforts to stabilise their relations, seeking a reset after the 2020 military standoff in the Galwan Valley plunged ties to the lowest point in decades. The military stand-off effectively ended in October 2024. An alumnus of Delhi University with a master's degree in history, Doraiswami worked as a journalist for a year before joining the IFS. Following his in-service training in New Delhi (1992-1993
Japan recorded a trade surplus of 57.3 billion yen (USD 360 million) in February, according to government data released Wednesday, reversing from a deficit a month earlier. Exports grew at a better-than-expected 4.2 per cent in February to 9.57 trillion yen, the Finance Ministry's seasonally adjusted preliminary data show. Imports grew 10.2 per cent on-year to 9.51 trillion yen following a 2.5 per cent contraction in January. Japan posted a 1.15 trillion trade deficit that month. Import costs are likely to rise as the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz due to the war against Iran drives up oil and other energy prices. Japan imports almost all its oil, and Brent crude - the international standard - has jumped in recent weeks to about USD 100 a barrel. Geopolitical uncertainty, especially the war in Iran, looms large for Japan's export-reliant economy, but a weak yen is likely to work as a plus. The US dollar has been trading at about 159 yen, when it was below 150 yen a yea
China won't help the United States reopen the Strait of Hormuz as requested by President Donald Trump, but it is probably welcoming the delay in Trump's highly anticipated trip to Beijing as the US risks getting bogged down in the Middle East, analysts say. The latest developments are unfolding as Trump's Iran war, in its third week, is faced with mounting pressure as oil has stopped moving through the strait and US allies have refused to step up to secure the strait. That has produced concerns that China, the United States' biggest geopolitical rival, could stand to benefit from a war that some say was ill-considered. "President Trump's request to delay his long-awaited summit with President Xi Jinping underscores how significantly he underestimated the fallout from Operation Epic Fury," said Ali Wyne, senior research and advocacy adviser for US-China relations at the International Crisis Group. "A show of US force that was meant to intimidate Beijing has instead served to punctur
President Donald Trump is delaying a diplomatic trip to China that had been planned for months but began to unravel as he pressured Beijing and other world powers to use military might to protect the Strait of Hormuz. Trump said Tuesday while meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin in the Oval Office that he would be going to China in five or six weeks' time instead of at the end of the month. He said he would be "resetting" his visit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, without elaborating. Trump's visit to China is seen as an opportunity to build on a fragile trade truce between the two superpowers, but it has become tangled in his effort to find an endgame to the war in Iran. Soon after pressing China and other nations to send warships to secure access to Middle Eastern oil over the weekend, Trump indicated his travel plans were up in the air, though he also indicated Tuesday that the US didn't need any help after being rebuffed by other allies. In a Sunday interview with