GOV. ABBOTT CALLS HIS TRIP TO INDIA A ‘HOME RUN’
Governor touts pending investment but cautious on H1-B visas.
Texas Gov. Greg MUMBAI, INDIA — Abbott conducted one business-recruitment meeting in New Delhi, India, on Friday. Then, touting his nine-day trade mission as a success he used the phrase — “home run” three times Abbott — departed his New Delhi hotel for the airport at about 11:35 a.m. local time.
“The trip was outstanding,” Abbott said. “It was remarkable to be able to connect with the Indian community. If nothing else, just having the opportunity for the governor of Texas to sit down with the prime minister for an hour-long meeting was an absolute home run.”
Abbott was referring to his 65-minute meeting Wednesday with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. They discussed defense, energy, technology, trade and health care, Abbott said.
The trade mission included “so many other accomplishments,” the Republican governor said. He cited this week’s announcements by two Indian-based companies that they plan to create new jobs in Baytown and Plano. He also hinted more would come fairly soon.
“It shows the promise of what India provides to the state of Texas,” he said.
Abbott said he will now deliver a message to Texas business leaders, which is that “They need to be very aggressive in working collaboratively with Indians, the Indian business community, because there’s a tremendous opportunity that lies ahead.”
On H1-B visas, which a number of Texas companies use to bring in engineers and scientists, Abbott gave guarded answers — as he has all through the trip. Any tightening by President Donald Trump’s administration would be a pain point for Indian tech outfits.
Abbott has avoided publicly criticizing the Trump administration’s talk of clamping down on alleged abuse by U.S.
tech company installations’ getting the Indian workers on the cheap, even when American workers are available, though they’d demand higher salaries.
“The way life works, especially in business, is there are thing you can control and things you can’t control,” Abbott said. “Because visas are operated by the federal government, as opposed to the state government, we have to work with whatever the rules are of the federal government, the same as businesses do. But one thing that makes Texas so successful is that we understand that, whatever the rules are, we’re going to find a way to succeed. And that’s exactly what Texas will do in collaborating with Texas businesses.”
The trip is being paid for by the Texas Economic Development Corp., a group spearheaded by the governor that solicits and uses corporate donations to promote business in Texas.
While the cost for Abbott’s trip hasn’t been disclosed — the corporation is a private nonprofit organization — the governor said it was worth the money.
“This can turn into a multibillion-dollar trip through investments by Indian-based companies into the state of Texas,” he said.