New Delhi: PM Modi showed concern to Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull in a telephonic conversation, when he thanked Modi for his successful visit to India over a phone call on Tuesday.
The new changes in Australia’s visa plan may hit 95,000 foreign workers, of which majority is of Indians, HT reported.
The visa programme, known as 457 visa which allows Australian businesses to hire foreign workforce when there is a shortage of skilled people in their country.
According to the reports, Prime Ministers agreed for officials being in contact on this particular issue. “We are an immigration nation, but the fact remains: Australian workers must have priority for Australian jobs, so we are abolishing the 457 visa, the visa that brings temporary foreign workers into our country,” Turnbull said in April.
Of three countries including UK, China and India, the majority of the 457 visa holders are Indian. “The government is examining consequences of the new policy in consultation with all stakeholders. This is also a matter we will be looking at in the context of Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) negotiations,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay stated in April.