New Delhi: Congress MP Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday took a jibe at the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar for "keeping quiet" on the decision by US President Donald Trump on restricting Harvard University's ability to enrol foreign students.
In a post on social media X, Ramesh wrote, "President Trump has made his intentions clear. China has reacted strongly regarding Chinese students. But not surprisingly, our PM and EAM have kept totally quiet. They are completely silent on President Trump's claims on having Operation Sindoor stopped after just four days, and they have not said a word of concern on how Indian students and their families are being affected badly by President Trump's actions." The Congress MP further wrote in his post that approximately three lakh Indian families who invested their hard-earned savings, plus those who went in the earlier years, would face an uncertain future.
"According to the Ministry of External Affairs, approximately 337,630 Indian students went to the USA for higher studies in 2024.
About a third of the foreign students on American campuses are from India. This means that some three and a half lakh Indian families invested their hard-earned savings or borrowed for the education of their children in the US.
These students, plus those who went in earlier years, face an uncertain future. Large numbers of students planning to go in 2025 may never get to see their aspirations fulfilled," the post read.
Earlier on May 24, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) urged the Central government to "put their foot down" and ensure that Indian students "get justice." "I think the central government needs to put their foot down and make sure that the Indian students get justice. Whoever was there in Harvard University must get justice," Clyde Crasto, spokesperson of NCP-SCP, told ANI in Mumbai.
"The Trump administration has made certain decisions. The federal government also along with them, has made a decision. Now that's their right. What the government does is their prerogative. But the point here is when we talk about foreign students being barred from Harvard University, that also involves our Indian students," he added.
Harvard and the Trump administration have been engaged in a conflict for months as the administration demands the university make changes to the programmes of the institution, hiring and administration to remove on-campus antisemitism and remove what it termed "racist 'diversity, equity and inclusion' practices." The administration has targeted foreign students and employees, whom it believes were part of the contentious campus protests over the Israel-Hamas war. Since then, a judge has issued a temporary restraining order after Harvard filed a lawsuit on the issue.
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