Hugs not good enough for US visas, tweets Rahul in jibe at Modi

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday described the proposed US visa rules as a "huge setback" for India, and in a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi said there were "some things a hug can buy", but for visas "you're on your own".

Gandhi's remarks come amid Trump administration's plan to propose ending work permits for the spouses of H1-B visa holders to work in the US, a move that could have a devastating impact on tens of thousands of Indians.

"New US Visa Rules, huge setback for India...," the Congress president said on Twitter.

"There are some things a hug can buy. For visas, you're on your own," he said in a wordplay on the MasterCard ad campaign which says, "There are some things money can't buy. For everything else, there's MasterCard".

"Foreign Policy by Narendra Modi, Foreword by Donald Trump," Gandhi said mocking the government's diplomacy.

Gandhi has earlier also attacked the prime minister over what he termed 'hugplomacy' after Pakistan released 2008 Mumbai attacks mastermind and Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed from house arrest.

The Trump administration's move to end the Obama-era rule could have an impact on more than 70,000 H-4 visa holders, who have work permits.

H-4 visas are issued to the spouses of H-1B visa holders, a significantly large number of whom are high-skilled professionals from India. They had obtained work permits under a special order issued by the previous Obama administration.