The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Condemns killing of Indian in Kansas
AS FOREIGN SECRETARY S Jaishankar is in the United States to raise the issue of safety of Indian immigrants in the country, Donald Trump on Wednesday condemned the shooting of an Indian in Kansas last week during his maiden address to the US Congress.
“Recent threats targetting Jewish Community Centres and vandalism of Jewish cemeteries, as well as last week’s shooting in Kansas City, remind us that while we may be a nation divided on policies, we are a country that stands united in condemning hate and evil in all its forms,” said Trump in his first address to the US Congress after his inauguration on January 20.
While Indian engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla was killed, his friend and colleague Alok Madasani was injured in the shooting where the perpetrator, a navy veteran Adam Purinton mistook them for immigrants from Middle East.
While the US Embassy in New Delhi issued a statement condemning the incident the same day, there was no official statement from the US government on the issue.
It was on February 28 that the Indian Foreign Secretary reached the US to convey India’s concerns about the safety of its diaspora and the effects of tightening of visa norms on its IT workforce.
It was only on Wednesday that the White House’s Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Sander issued a statement: “It begins to look like this was an act of racially motivated hatred, and we want to reiterate that the President condemns these and any other racially or religiously motivated attacks in the strongest terms.”
Following his condemnation of the shooting he also defended his intentions to tighten immigration rules for lower-skilled workers.
“We are going to move away from lower-skilled immigration and adopt a merit-based system. By finally enforcing immigration laws, we will raise wages, help the unemployed, save billions of dollars and make our communities safer,” Trump said in his address on Tuesday evening.