New Delhi: India on Saturday said it had lodged a protest with the United States government after several Indian students were detained there in connection with their enrollment in a fake university, following an undercover operation by U.S. agents.
U.S. authorities this week said eight individuals who exploited the country’s student visa system had been indicted. They had helped foreign nationals illegally remain in the United States by enrolling them into a metro Detroit private university, which was actually being operated by U.S. agents themselves.
The recruiters helped the students to fraudulently obtain immigration documents from the school in a bid to deceive authorities, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said. The foreign students, however, had no intention of attending school, it added.
Though the U.S. government did not disclose nationalities of those involved, the Indian foreign ministry on Saturday said “several Indian students” had been detained. Indian media said more than 100 students had been detained in the United States.
The Indian government had issued a rare “demarche” to the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, telling it that Indian officials needed immediate consular access to the detainees.
Moscow: Russia has suspended the Cold War-era Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty, President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday, after the United States announced it would withdraw from the arms control pact, accusing Moscow of violations.
Moscow’s relations with the West are strained over issues including Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, allegations of meddling in the U.S. presidential election and being behind a nerve agent attack in Britain.
The United States announced on Friday it will withdraw from the INF treaty in six months unless Moscow ends what it says are violations of the 1987 pact.
It would reconsider its withdrawal if Russia came into compliance with the agreement, which bans both nations from stationing short- and intermediate-range land-based missiles in Europe. Russia denies violating the treaty.