Washington: Citing the significant contributions of immigrants from India, a leading U.S. think-tank has suggested that America must roll out the welcome mat to high-skilled workers to remain competitive and innovative.

While much of the congressional immigration reform debate is focused on a 'path to citizenship' for 11 million illegal immigrants, including some 260,000 Indians, a proposal by Senate's " Gang of Eight" focusing on skilled workers "should attract broad support," it said, describing it as 'path to prosperity'.

Called the Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013, it proposes increasing the number of visas for high-skilled foreign workers and granting permanent legal ('green card') status to more foreign students who earn graduate degrees from American universities in the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and math).

"Current U.S. immigration practices prevent U.S. companies and entrepreneurs from gaining access to talented, high skilled employees," noted Karl F. Inderfurth, Wadhwani Chair in U.S.-India Policy Studies and Scott Miller, Scholl Chair in International Business at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

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