Indian foreign minister's comments come following a meeting with US foreign secretary Marco Rubio in Washington during which illegal immigration was one of the issues discussed

India is prepared to take back its citizens residing without documentation in the US, foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar has said.

India is also playing ball because it wants to hold on to the legal channels for immigration that Indians now enjoy. With a new sheriff in town — and a possible trade war looming — India on Tuesday declared it will help President Trump identify its citizens residing illegally in the United States and then take them back.

India’s government is prepared to work with Donald Trump’s administration to identify and take back all its citizens residing illegally in the US, an early signal from New Delhi that it’s willing to comply with the incoming American president and avoid a trade war.