On Friday (9th October), the Modi government slammed US Vice President JD Vance for dehumanising Indian workers as ‘indentured servants.’ The development comes a day after the US Labour Department suspended the Permanent Labour Certification (PERM) programme for companies such as Microsoft, TCS and others.
In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs pointed out, “We have also seen some comments in this context by the US Vice President. We believe that 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.“
“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,” it further added.
While noting that PERM suspension is different from the H-1B visa programme, the Modi government noted that talent mobility adds value to both the economies. It said, “While it creates opportunities for Indians, it equally helps US companies with cutting-edge talent, innovation, research, productivity, competitiveness and job creation, besides creating shareholder wealth in the US,”
BREAKING India reacts to announcement made by the US Department of Labour "Steps announced by the US do not advance the shared ambitions of both countries" https://t.co/Epv8CSZoAG
— Sidhant Sibal (@sidhant) October 9, 2026
“The steps announced by the US do not advance the shared ambitions of both countries,” the Ministry of External Affairs concluded.
A day earlier, US Vice President JD Vance referred to H-1B visa workers in the US as ‘indentured foreign servants’.
He had claimed, “Message to Microsoft is you’re a great American company, but you’ve got to hire great American workers. You cannot lay off American workers and then replace them with foreign indentured servants. And I want to talk a little bit about that.”
“When I say indentured servants, here’s what I mean. “When somebody comes in on an H-1B, they are completely subordinate to that company. If they lose that job, they have to leave the country.So if you think of the basic idea of American Constitutional Republic, where we bring people in who are fair and equal citizens of the United States of America, they are not controlled by their employer,” Vance remarked.
"Indentured servants," says US Vice President JD Vance referring to H-1B visa workers in America https://t.co/8U14ieLsZD
— Shashank Mattoo (@MattooShashank) October 8, 2026
“But you bring people in, and you basically tell them that if they get out of line, if they get too uppity at work, they’re not just going to lose their job, but they’re going to be deported back to their country of residence. Those people are not full citizens,” he brazened out.
