India condemns U.S. Vice President Vance's 'indentured servants' remark as offensive

India has publicly condemned remarks by U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance that described foreign workers as "indentured servants". Anadolu, RT and The Hindu all reported the condemnation on 9 October 2026. RT and The Hindu both report that India called the remark offensive.

According to The Hindu, India's Ministry of External Affairs issued the condemnation in a statement on Friday, 9 October 2026. The Hindu reports that the Ministry called the remarks "unwarranted" and "deeply offensive".

The labour certification suspension

According to The Hindu, Vance and U.S. Labour Secretary Keith Sonderling announced on Thursday, 8 October 2026, the suspension of the Permanent Labour Certification (PERM) programme for eight IT outsourcing companies operating in the U.S. They accused the companies of visa fraud.

The Hindu names the companies as Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, Cognizant and HCL, which it describes as Indian IT multinationals often called the "Big 5", along with Capgemini, Microsoft and Adobe.

PERM lets a company sponsor a foreign employee for U.S. permanent residence, known as a Green Card. The company must show the Labour Department that it tried and failed to find a comparably qualified American for the job. The Hindu reports that about 70% of all H1B visa holders are Indian. It does not cite a source for this figure.

Trade context

According to The Hindu, the announcement came as India-U.S. economic ties were strained by a lack of progress in Free Trade Agreement talks. Those talks included months of negotiations in Delhi and Washington and calls between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump. The Hindu reports that, after talks in Washington the week before its report, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said no deal was "imminent". Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said negotiations had "plateaued".

New Delhi is also awaiting the impact of the Sanctions against Russia and Iran Act. According to The Hindu, the Act mandates U.S. tariffs of up to 100% on countries importing large quantities of Russian oil. Trump is expected to decide on those tariffs on 18 October, ahead of the U.S. mid-term elections in early November.

What each side says

• J.D. Vance: The Hindu quoted him as saying the companies "bring in indentured servants from outside the country" and lay off American workers, replacing them "with people who frankly shouldn't be in the United States of America to begin with".
• U.S. government: According to The Hindu, it accuses the eight companies of visa fraud and says they brought in hundreds of thousands of foreign workers at lower wages through a "pernicious system" that "defrauded the American worker". It says the PERM process benefited more than 230,000 H1B visa approvals and 100,000 permanent residencies since 2009.
• India's Ministry of External Affairs: According to The Hindu, the statement said: "Resorting to terminology that carries painful historical and colonial legacy connotations is deeply offensive". It said Indian professionals are "highly educated and skilled contributors" to the U.S. economy. It added that the suspension would not "advance the shared ambitions of both countries".

What the reports do not include

The reports reviewed by Vocemundi do not say where Vance made his remarks. They do not describe the evidence behind the fraud allegations, or the duration and scope of the suspension. They do not include responses from the eight companies or any U.S. response to India's statement. The Anadolu and RT reports reviewed consist only of headlines.

Analysis

The dispute links two separate tracks: U.S. enforcement on skilled-worker visas and stalled India-U.S. trade talks. If the suspension is broad or lasting, it could affect sponsored employees and company hiring in both countries. A narrower or temporary measure might limit that effect. Much depends on details the reports do not yet provide, including the evidence for the fraud allegations and the companies' responses. The expected 18 October tariff decision could either add further strain or create an opening for talks. Further statements from both governments may influence how the issue develops.

Produced by the Vocemundi newsroom with AI assistance.