Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday met Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake in Colombo, with the two leaders discussing the broad India-Sri Lanka partnership and cooperation to promote regional safety, security, peace and prosperity.

Singh arrived in Sri Lanka on Tuesday for a three-day visit. During his meeting with Dissanayake, he conveyed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s greetings and congratulated the Sri Lankan president on the completion of two years of his government.

India, Sri Lanka reaffirm regional cooperation

According to the Ministry of Defence, the two sides reaffirmed their commitment to working together as close neighbours and maritime partners for the development and welfare of their people.

They also emphasised cooperation to ensure the safety, security, peace and prosperity of the region. The meeting comes during Singh’s first visit to Sri Lanka as India’s defence minister in 38 years.

Dissanayake recalled his interactions with Prime Minister Modi and reiterated that Sri Lanka would not allow its territory to be used for activities that could harm India’s security interests.

The Sri Lankan president also thanked India for the relief assistance provided under Operation Sagar Bandhu during Cyclone Ditwah and for the rehabilitation package extended by New Delhi for reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts. Singh said India viewed its support to Sri Lanka not as a favour but as a responsibility as a close friend and neighbour.

India, Sri Lanka exchange defence cooperation MoUs

The two countries also exchanged memoranda of understanding covering the upgrading of L70 guns for the Sri Lankan Air Force and cooperation between the National Cadet Corps and the National Defence Colleges of India and Sri Lanka.

Under one MoU, six L70 guns earlier provided by India to the Sri Lanka Air Force will be upgraded under an Indian government grant. The Ministry of Defence said the upgrade would strengthen the air defence architecture protecting critical assets in Sri Lanka.

Another agreement between the National Defence Colleges of the two countries will facilitate academic cooperation and knowledge sharing.

The NCC cooperation agreement will formalise a youth exchange programme, allowing NCC cadets from different countries to participate in events in New Delhi.

Bailey bridges inaugurated

During the meeting, Singh and Dissanayake virtually inaugurated three Bailey bridges constructed by Indian defence forces.

Singh also said during his interaction with the Indian diaspora on Tuesday that India would continue to stand with Sri Lanka during times of crisis. He highlighted the relationship between the two countries as being rooted in shared history, culture and faith.

Singh is leading a high-level delegation comprising senior officials from the ministries of defence and external affairs during his Sri Lanka visit.

Iran has claimed that its forces captured a US unmanned underwater vehicle near the entrance of the Strait of Hormuz, releasing a video that it said showed the seized submarine drone.

The Iranian navy, in a statement carried by Iranian state media, identified the vehicle as a Dive-LD and described it as one of the US military’s advanced unmanned underwater systems. The Revolutionary Guards said the vehicle was captured during what it described as a complex intelligence operation.

However, the US military has not explicitly confirmed that the vehicle displayed by Iran was the same underwater drone that malfunctioned earlier.

US says underwater drone malfunctioned

Following Iran’s claim, the US military said one of its underwater drones had malfunctioned more than a day earlier while conducting a survey of regional waters.

A Pentagon spokesperson said the defective drone was an older model and did not collect sensitive data or carry classified sonar or radar equipment.

The US statement did not directly say whether the malfunctioning drone was the one Iran claimed to have captured.

What is the Dive-LD?

The Dive-LD is an autonomous underwater vehicle developed by California-based defence company Anduril.

According to information cited in the report, the unmanned vehicle can operate for up to 10 days without returning to its base and is designed to reach depths of up to 6,000 metres, or around 19,700 feet.

The system can be used for underwater missions including seabed mapping, mine countermeasures, intelligence gathering and inspection of underwater infrastructure. Individual Dive-LD units have been reported to cost about $2.5 million.

Iran also claims US drone was shot down

Separately, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed that its air-defence systems had shot down an MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Strait of Hormuz.

The claim came amid heightened military tensions between Washington and Tehran, with the strategic waterway remaining a major focus of the confrontation.

US says five Iranian oil tankers destroyed

The submarine-drone claim came after the US Central Command said its forces had destroyed five Iranian crude oil tankers.

According to the US military, the strikes followed two Iranian attempts to target a US warship with ballistic missiles over a two-day period.

The US Treasury Department has also announced sanctions targeting 27 Iranian airlines, accusing them of supporting activities of the Iranian regime and facilitating the movement of weapons and personnel.

Iran vows to continue resistance

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran would continue its resistance until what he called the aggressors were brought to “complete regret”.

He also reiterated Iran’s stated opposition to war while saying the country would continue defending itself against what it considers aggression.

The latest developments add to tensions between the US and Iran, with both sides issuing competing claims about military operations in and around the strategically important Strait of Hormuz.

The United States has warned that employment-based first-preference (EB-1) green cards for Indian professionals could become unavailable before September 30, as high demand puts pressure on the number of immigrant visas available under the category.

The warning was issued in the September Visa Bulletin from the US State Department. It comes as Indian applicants already face significant backlogs across several employment-based green card categories.

Why EB-1 availability is under pressure

EB-1 is an employment-based green card category for priority workers. It covers people with extraordinary ability, outstanding professors and researchers, and certain multinational executives and managers.

The State Department said that high demand and the use of visa numbers by applicants chargeable to India could result in the EB-1 category becoming unavailable in the coming weeks if India’s pro-rated limit is reached before the US fiscal year ends on September 30.

The department also said the situation would continue to be monitored and that necessary adjustments could be made.

This does not mean EB-1 green cards for Indians have already been stopped. The warning concerns the possibility that the available visa numbers could be exhausted before the end of the fiscal year.

EB-1 India cutoff date remains October 15, 2022

For September, the EB-1 final action date for India is October 15, 2022.

In general, an applicant’s priority date needs to be earlier than the applicable final action date for a visa number to be available for final action, subject to other eligibility requirements.

The September Visa Bulletin’s dates-for-filing chart provides a later date of December 1, 2023, for EB-1 India. However, applicants seeking adjustment of status in the US must check which chart the US Citizenship and Immigration Services has authorised for that particular month.

Other green card categories also face constraints

The pressure on Indian employment-based applicants extends beyond EB-1.

India’s EB-2 category is listed as “U”, meaning unavailable, in the September Visa Bulletin. The State Department uses this designation when visa numbers are not authorised for issuance in that category during the relevant period.

The EB-3 category also has a substantial backlog, with its final action date stretching back to January 1, 2014 for India.

Meanwhile, India’s unreserved EB-5 category is also unavailable for final action in September. The set-aside EB-5 categories for rural projects, high-unemployment areas and infrastructure remain current for all countries.

What the warning means for Indian applicants

The immediate concern is the availability of visa numbers before September 30, which marks the end of the US fiscal year.

If the pro-rated EB-1 allocation for India is exhausted before that date, the category could become unavailable for the remainder of the fiscal year. The State Department has indicated that it will continue monitoring demand and visa-number usage.

The situation is particularly significant for Indian professionals because employment-based green card applicants from India are already dealing with long queues and restrictions in multiple categories.