U.S. military plane flies 104 illegal immigrants back to India

By Aftab Ahmed and Adnan Abidi

AMRITSAR, India (Reuters) -A U.S. military plane carrying 104 deported Indian illegal immigrants landed in India on Wednesday, authorities said, part of President Donald Trump's immigration agenda a week before he is expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Washington.

Migration has been among the key issues discussed by India and the U.S. since Trump assumed office last month, and is also expected to come up during Trump's talks with Modi.

Although illegal Indian immigrants have been deported by previous U.S. administrations, it is the first time Washington has used a military aircraft for the purpose. It is also the farthest destination so far for such flights using a military aircraft.

The U.S. aircraft that landed in the Sikh holy city of Amritsar, in the northern Indian state of Punjab, returned 104 Indian immigrants, said Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, Punjab's minister for Non-Resident Indian Affairs.

Punjab police said 33 immigrants each were from Gujarat, Modi's home state and the northern state of Haryana, while 30 were from Punjab. They underwent hours of scrutiny at the airport before police escorted them out in small groups in police vehicles.

The Indian foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

The Trump administration has increasingly turned to the military to help carry out its immigration agenda, using military aircraft to deport migrants and opening military bases to house them.

Reuters reported on Tuesday that the C-17 aircraft with migrants on board had departed for India but would not arrive for at least 24 hours. The flight did not show up on public flight trackers but local media reported that it was coming from San Antonio in Texas.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also 'emphasised' the Trump administration's desire to work with India to address "concerns related to irregular migration" when he met Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar last month.

New Delhi has since said it will take back such illegal immigrants after verifying their details.

The U.S. is India's largest trading partner and the two countries are forging deeper strategic ties as they look to counter China.

India is also keen to work with the U.S. to make it easier for its citizens to get skilled workers visas.

The Pentagon has said it plans to deport more than 5,000 migrants held by U.S. authorities, and Reuters reported last week that a flight to Guatemala used for the purpose likely cost at least $4,675 per migrant.

(Reporting by Adnan Abidi and Aftab Ahmed in Amritsar; Additional reporting by Shivam Patel; Writing by Sakshi Dayal and YP Rajesh; Editing by Toby Chopra)