India and the US are working on a pact that will exempt a certain category of Indians like former Presidents, Prime Ministers and other “high dignitaries’, big industrialists and some filmstars, from immigration checks in America.
Top immigration officials of the two countries recently held a meeting for the implementation of the Global Entry, a US Customs and Border Protection programme that allows expedited clearance for pre-approved, low-risk travellers upon arrival in the United States.
The meeting discussed what categories of people from India could be exempted the immigration checks in the US, sources said. In this context, the names of former President Pratibha Patil, former PM Manmohan Singh, industrialists Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani and filmstars Amitabh Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan were specifically mentioned, they said.
Khan was once detained at a US airport because his name resembled that of somebody on the watchlist. “The US has been pressing for India’s inclusion in the Global Entry so that high dignitaries, frequent flyers and top industrialists could visit America without any hassle,” a source said.