NEW DELHI, June 20 (Reuters) - The Indian government is engaged with the U.S. Congress on H-1B work visas but has not heard anything official from Washington on capping such permits for Indians, the country's foreign ministry said on Thursday.
Reuters reported on Wednesday the United States had told India it was considering caps on H-1B work visas for nations that force foreign companies to store data locally, according to sources familiar with the matter.
India foreign ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar said there had been no official communication on the H-1B issue, but did not elaborate.
The Indian government remained in talks on the issue of data localisation, Kumar said.
The U.S. plan to restrict the popular H-1B visa programme, under which skilled foreign workers are brought to the United States each year, comes days ahead of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's visit to New Delhi.
It also comes as trade tensions between the United States and India have resulted in tit-for-tat tariffs in recent weeks. From Sunday, India imposed higher tariffs on some U.S. goods, days after Washington withdrew a key trade privilege for New Delhi. (Reporting by Neha Dasgupta; Writing by Aditya Kalra)
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