In other news, Indian-American lawmakers have slammed the US-based Republican Hindu Coalition for supporting President Donald Trump's executive order on immigration, which they alleged takes the country backwards "towards dark times".


"As the most senior Indian-American member of Congress, I believe that Donald Trump's executive order does not reflect who we are as Americans," Ami Bera, a three-time Congressman, said.


"The actions of the Republican Hindu Coalition (RHC) today do not reflect the breadth and diversity of the Indian-American community, or our diaspora," he said in a rare criticism of an Indian-American organisation related to the Republican party. Bera, along with three other Indian-American lawmakers, vented out his anger against the Coalition.


The Coalition has supported Trump's executive order on immigration and refugees. "We applaud the Trump administration for taking this decisive move to protect our citizens from Islamic terror," its chairman Shalabh Kumar said yesterday.


The executive order signed on Friday, indefinitely barred Syrian refugees from entering the US, and blocked citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries - Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen - for 90 days.