The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has advised Indian students in the U.S. to comply with American laws. This statement came after a postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University was detained and another student chose to leave for Canada on their own.

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal also mentioned that neither of these students sought help from the Indian missions in the U.S. The Department of Homeland Security seized Badar Khan Suri, a postdoctoral scholar at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, on Monday night on suspicion of "actively spreading Hamas propaganda". A US federal judge has stopped Suri from being deported from the country. This decision comes shortly after Ranjani Srinivasan, an Indian student at Columbia University, left for Canada on her own after her visa was cancelled. She was accused of supporting Hamas and promoting violence and terrorism.

India's embassy and consulates in the US will assist students facing any problems, Jaiswal said in his weekly media briefing. He also emphasised that visa and immigration policies are entirely decided by each country, and everyone must follow their respective laws. "When it comes to visa and immigration policy, it is something that lies within the sovereign functions of a country." "We, on our side, we expect that when we have foreign nationals coming to India, they abide by our laws and regulations. And similarly, it is our expectation that when Indian nationals are abroad, they must also comply with local laws and regulations," he said.

On Suri's detention, Jaiswal said, "We are given to understand through media reports that this particular individual, he has been detained." "Neither the US government nor this individual has approached us or the embassy. So, this is what we understand," he said.

Regarding Srinivasan's case, Jaiswal said that there is no information about her reaching out to the Indian embassy or any consulate in the US for assistance. "We only came to know of her departure from the US from media reports... We understand that she has gone to Canada," he said. Srinivasan entered the US on an F-1 student visa to pursue a PhD in Urban Planning at Columbia University, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Authorities accused her of being involved in activities supporting Hamas. Her visa was revoked by the Department of State on March 5. The Department of Homeland Security stated that it has video evidence of Srinivasan using the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Home App to voluntarily leave the US on March 11.

Jaiswal stated that a large number of Indian students are studying in the US and that India wants to strengthen its educational relationship with the country. "The knowledge partnership and participation of our students or the enrolment of our students in universities of the US and the expansion of the knowledge partnership is an important element in our relationship, and we want to foster these ties further," he said.