"Unwarranted": India Slams Vance's "Indentured Servants" Remark On H-1B Hiring

India has slammed US Vice President JD Vance's comments describing foreign workers as "indentured servants" amid the US green card crackdown, calling them "unwarranted". The Foreign Ministry asserted that talent mobility adds value to both economies, as it not only creates opportunities for Indians but also helps US companies with "cutting-edge talent, innovation, research, productivity, competitiveness and job creation, besides creating shareholder wealth in the US."

"This is therefore an area of tremendous mutual benefit for the two countries, and our expectation is that all stakeholders in this process can appreciate this fact. The steps announced by the US do not advance the shared ambitions of both countries," the ministry said in a statement.

The rebuttal came after the United States barred eight IT firms -- Microsoft, Tata, Wipro, Infosys, Adobe, Cognizant, HCL and Capgemini -- from participating in its Permanent Labour Certification (PERM) programme, a key step in the employer-sponsored Green Card process, claiming the practice has shut out American workers from the job market.

What India Said

New Delhi noted that PERM is distinct from the H-1B visa programme but reassured that the suspension of applications under the programme alone does not, by itself, affect the validity of existing H-1B visas or the status of H-1B visa holders and their dependents.

It, however, could have an impact on the permanent residency or green card process of eligible employees of the affected companies, the statement said.

The Ministry also singled out comments made by US Vice President Vance on the issue and said his "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."

"Indeed, the history of the United States itself has been shaped by generations of immigrants whose labour, enterprise and innovation have contributed to its growth and prosperity. Resorting to terminology that carries painful historical and colonial legacy connotations is deeply offensive," the ministry said.

More than 5.2 million people of Indian origin live in the US, according to recent estimates based on US Census data.

What JD Vance Said

Vance suspended the PERM programme for Microsoft, accusing the company of replacing American workers with non-American workers. He stressed that the IT firm needed to hire "great American workers" instead of replacing them with "foreign indentured servants".

"In the last year, Microsoft laid off 6,000 American workers. At the same time, the company benefited from 6,300 H-1B visas and almost 3,000 green cards. In other words, if you do the math, for every worker that Microsoft laid off, they replaced that worker with one and a half foreign indentured servants," the US leader claimed