New Delhi, June 26 -- India has formally responded to the United States' directive requiring visa applicants to disclose their social media identifiers, with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) asserting that such applications should be assessed strictly on merit.

In his first comments on the issue, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, "Visa matters, immigration matters-these pertain to the sovereign functions of any country. That said, we have seen the guidelines issued by the US Embassy here and by the US government regarding the provision of social media identifiers in visa applications."

He added, "It is our belief that all visa applications of Indian nationals should be treated on the basis of merit. We remain engaged with the...