Vice President J.D.
The Ministry of External Affairs on Friday (October 9, 2026) slammed as “unwarranted” and “deeply offensive” U.S. Vance’s comments in which he called foreign workers, including Indian IT professionals, “indentured servants”.
Labour Secretary Keith Sonderling announced the suspension of the Permanent Labour Certification (PERM) programme for eight IT outsourcing giants, including five Indian IT multinationals operating in the U.S., and accused them of visa fraud. Vance and U.S. The list included Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, Cognizant, and HCL from India, often called the Big 5, as well as Capgemini, Microsoft, and Adobe.
“Such descriptions are unwarranted and ignore the fact that Indian professionals in the United States are highly educated and skilled contributors to its economy and innovation ecosystem,” the Ministry said in a strongly worded statement that reminded the Trump administration that the U.S. had been “shaped by generations of immigrants. “Resorting to terminology that carries painful historical and colonial legacy connotations is deeply offensive,” the Ministry added, pointing to the use of indentured labour by American and European colonial settlers in the 19th century, including in the U.S. and nearby islands to work on their farms. On Thursday , Mr.
The PERM programme allows companies to certify professionals who are not U.S. citizens for essential skills, qualifying them to be sponsored for a Green Card of Permanent Residency status in the country. Last week, after talks in Washington, the U.S. About 70% of all H1B visa holders are Indian. In addition, New Delhi is awaiting the impact of the Sanctions against Russia and Iran Act that mandates up to 100% U.S. tariffs on countries importing large quantities of Russian oil.
Hitting out at the U.S. government for its decision to suspend “labour certifications” from several Indian technology firms based in America, the Ministry said the steps would not “advance the shared ambitions of both countries”, indicating further trouble in the already difficult economic relationship between the two countries. The U.S. government said this process benefitted more than 2,30,000 H1B visa approvals and 1,00,000 permanent residencies since 2009, claiming that the eight companies had brought in hundreds of thousands of foreign workers at lower wages through a “pernicious system” that “defrauded the American worker”. The Ministry said that talent mobility helps both the U.S. and India, creating “opportunities for Indians” and providing U.S. companies with “cutting-edge talent, innovation, research, productivity, competitiveness and job creation, besides creating shareholder wealth in the U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said no deal was “imminent”, and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also disclosed that negotiations had “plateaued” with little possible give-and-take. Earlier reporting noted: ‘Deeply offensive’: India hits back at Vance’s ‘Indentured Servants’ remark on H-1B India on Friday criticised the United States’ decision to suspend eight major technology companies from its Permanent Labour Certification (PERM) programme, warning that the move ‘undermines the shared ambitions’ of the two countries, while strongly objecting to US Vice President JD Vance’s description of H-1B visa workers as “indentured servants”. Earlier reporting noted: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the suspension of PERM applications would not, by itself, affect the validity of existing H-1B visas or the status of visa holders and their dependents.
Earlier reporting noted: The response comes after the US Department of Labour suspended several major technology and outsourcing firms from the programme amid multiple active federal investigations.
