Of course, we've have to stop depending on the United States, China and a score of other countries; but we're yet not the economic force we aspire to become. Like the poet said, we have miles to go before we sleep. PM Modi need not remind us of India's Achilles heel every time his "friend" ups the ante against India.

President Trump is a tyrant but he also claims to be Prime Minister Modi's friend. With friends like Trump, India doesn't need another enemy to cook our goose. Modi has been avoiding naming President Trump "India's No.1 enemy", paraphrasing the song, "When will Modi ever learn?"

What did Prime Minister Modi say? "Greater a nation’s dependence on other countries, the greater its risk of failure.” For global peace, he said, “we must become Atmanirbhar.”

Modi on Saturday said India’s “real enemy” is its dependence on other countries, stressing the need for self-reliance to ensure national strength and global respect. We have no major enemy in the world. Our only real enemy is our dependence on other countries. This is our biggest enemy, and together we must defeat this enemy of India, the enemy of dependence.”

Modi was in his home state Gujarat, Bhavnagar, where he linked the need for Atmanirbharta with "national pride and the future of the country", stating that “the greater the foreign dependence, the greater the nation’s failure. For global peace, stability, and prosperity, the country with the world's largest population must become Atmanirbhar."

Modi's remarks should strike home. India's "real enemy" at this point time is the Trump-led US administration. Trump has a team of US secretaries who are viscerally anti-India, one of them being his commerce secretary.

Friday President Trump signed the imposition of a $100,000 fee for H-1B visa applications. Guess what, Indians in America are 70 percent of the H1B visa holders. Trump doesn't care, Trump's secretaries do not care. This is the Trump' administration's way of showing the middle finger to the Modi dispensation. Will Modi react, and how?

The $100,000 fee will be effective September 21. Indians are the hardest hit. And this comes even as businesses in India are reeling from Trump tariffs. Who is "our real enemy" is as plain as the writing on the wall.

There is no relief from the sweeping 50% tariffs imposed by the US on Indian imports. Now Indian tech workers would feel the Trump effect while Modi will be fiddling with his newest catchphrases.

Trump's reasoning is that he signed the order to overhaul the H-1B visa programme, that the $100,000 fee for applications will "curb overuse". Nobody can argue with that, it's a Trump prerogative. Companies will have to pay $100,000 for the H-1B if they want to hire Indian talent, period.

The US commerce secretary Howard Lutnik says the move will see to it that US companies will hire more American talent. Foreign workers will have to go back to their home countries.

This does make us wonder whether Trump and cohorts in the White House are "colour racists". Trump's actions are a direct attack on India and Indians but Prime Minister Modi continues to give Trump a wide alley.

The Indian diaspora in America has been reduced to fighting with his one hand tied. Trump needs to be8 told, at least made aware that he is India's real enemy. Trump has said these latest restrictions will last a full year from the date implemented.

Trump has alleged that the H-1B regime is “systemic abuse” of the visa system. Does the Modi government have an answer? Trump had gone on to say that the misuse of the H-1B programme was a “national security threat.”

“Further, the abuse of the H-1B visa program has made it even more challenging for college graduates trying to find IT jobs, allowing employers to hire foreign workers at a significant discount to American workers,” his order read.

Indian tech workers will limit job mobility and make renewals costly. "Employers may hesitate to sponsor or retain H-1B employees, especially early-career professionals, increasing the risk that some will have to go back to India or be attracted to other countries such as Canada, the UK, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia,” said an immigration lawyer.

Amazon has advised employees holding H-1B and H-4 visas to stay put. Microsoft also. But what is Prime Minister Modi's two pence to the development, what's his advice to these US visa holders. And will he correct himself and name India's current problem, US President Donald Trump? (IPA Service)