US revokes visas for Indian business executives over fentanyl links

Trump's statement names India among 23 major drug transit or producing nations

A private security guard stands outside the US embassy in New Delhi Dec 18, 2013. REUTERS/Anindito Mukherjee/File Photo

The US embassy in New Delhi has revoked and subsequently denied visas for some Indian business executives and corporate leaders based on their involvement in trafficking fentanyl precursors, the embassy said in a statement on Thursday.

Fentanyl precursors refer to the basic or parent chemicals that form fentanyl, a leading cause of US overdose deaths.

The statement from the embassy did not name the people affected, but a spokesperson said they were Indian nationals.

Indian government officials have been closely cooperating with US counterparts to combat the challenge of drug trafficking, the US embassy added in its statement.

India's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request from Reuters for comment on the US visa measures.

US President Donald Trump, whose punitive 50 percent tariffs on Indian imports hurt bilateral ties, has previously imposed additional levies on imports from China, Mexico and Canada, saying they facilitated the flow of fentanyl into the US.

In a statement to US Congress this week, Trump listed India as one of 23 major drug transit or illicit drug-producing countries, though he added the presence of any country on the list was not necessarily a reflection of its government's counter-drug efforts.