- US and Europe risk harming own interests by tightening rules on skilled immigration, said S Jaishankar
- Jaishankar stressed talent mobility benefits mutual growth and should face fewer barriers
- Anti-immigration views stem from past policies, not talent mobility itself, he said
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday cautioned that the United States and Europe risk undermining their own interests if they continue tightening immigration rules that restrict the movement of skilled professionals.
"The part which concerns us is to convince them that mobility, the use of talent across boundaries, is to our mutual benefit," he said at India's World Annual Conclave 2025. "They would be net losers if they actually erected too many roadblocks to the flow of talent."
Jaishankar noted that in a democracy, individuals are free to pursue opportunities wherever they arise, and governments cannot and should not compel them to stay put. "...We can't tell people not to go out to work. There's a freedom of movement. We're a democratic society. They have the freedom to travel. If they get better prospects, of course, they will look at it. The common-sense thing is to create opportunities at home," he said.
He argued that retaining talent requires action on both ends, expanding India's skilled workforce while ensuring the economy grows fast enough to absorb it. "Unless we are able to sustain high growth rates, we will not be able to find opportunities for their employment and retention," he added.
The minister's remarks come amid tougher immigration actions under US President Donald Trump and similar situations across the European Union. Jaishankar said these anti-immigration stances stem not from talent mobility itself but from longstanding policy decisions. "If there are concerns, let us say, in the United States or in Europe, it is because they very consciously and deliberately, over the last two decades, allowed their businesses to relocate. It was their choice and strategy. They have to find ways of fixing it, and many of them are," he said.
He also pointed to the political climate in the West, where leaders have increasingly accused migrants of "stealing" jobs - a sentiment amplified in the United States by far-right supporters of Trump, including those demanding a clampdown on or even the abolition of H-1B visas. Similar narratives have taken hold in the UK and parts of Europe, such as Germany, where the AfD has gained traction.
Jaishankar warned that such pressures are ultimately counterproductive. "As we move into an era of advanced manufacturing, we will need more talent, not less, and talent cannot be developed organically at a high rate. There is a certain structural impediment out there. In their own societies, you can see the tension," he said.
