Government slams Vance’s remarks about Indian IT professionals as ‘deeply offensive’
American Vice President JD Vance. File | Photo credit: Reuters
The Ministry of External Affairs on Friday (Oct 9, 2026) termed as “unwarranted” and “deeply offensive” comments made by US Vice President JD Vance in which he called foreign workers, including Indian IT professionals, “servants”.
The ministry called out the US government for its decision to suspend the “labor certifications” of several American-based Indian technology firms, saying the moves “will not enhance the common ambitions of the two countries”, hinting at further difficulties in the already difficult economic relationship between the two countries.
On Thursday, Mr. Vance and US Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling announced the suspension of the Permanent Labor Certification (PERM) program for eight IT outsourcing giants, including five Indian multinational IT companies operating in the US, accusing them of visa fraud. The list included Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, Cognizant and HCL of 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 department said in a strongly worded statement, reminding the Trump administration that the US has been “shaped by generations of immigrants.”
“Resorting to terminology that carries a painful historical and colonial legacy is deeply offensive,” the ministry added, pointing to the use of forced labor by American and European colonial settlers in the 19th century, including the US and nearby islands, to work on their farms.
The PERM program allows companies to certify non-U.S. professionals for essential skills, qualifying them for green card permanent resident status in the country. The US government said the process has benefited more than 2,30,000 H1B visa approvals and 1,00,000 permanent residents since 2009, alleging that the eight companies brought in hundreds of thousands of foreign workers at lower wages through a “pernicious system” that “cheated the American worker”. About 70% of all H1B visa holders are Indians.
“You (companies) are bringing in indentured servants from abroad. You’re laying off American workers. And if you’re a corporation, you’re making a lot of money by undercutting the wages of American workers and replacing them with people who frankly shouldn’t be in the United States to begin with,” Mr. Vance said.
The PERM program allows a company to sponsor a foreign employee to permanent residence in the U.S. and must prove to the Department of Labor that it has tried and failed to find a comparably qualified American for the job.
The department said talent mobility helps both the US and India, creating “opportunities for Indians” and providing US companies with “cutting-edge talent, innovation, research, productivity, competitiveness and job creation, in addition to creating wealth for US shareholders”.
Mr Vance’s announcement came as economic ties between India and the US have been strained by a lack of progress in talks on a free trade deal, despite months of negotiations in Delhi and Washington and talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump.
Last week, after talks in Washington, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said there was “no threat” of a deal, and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also revealed negotiations had “stagnant” with little give and take possible. In addition, New Delhi is awaiting the impact of the Russia-Iran Sanctions Act, which imposes up to 100% US tariffs on countries that import large amounts of Russian oil.
Mr Trump is expected to make a decision on the tariffs on October 18, just before the US mid-term elections in early November.
Published – 9 Oct 2026 22:18 IST