India has pushed back against US Vice President JD Vance’s “indentured servants” remark about foreign workers, calling his comments unwarranted and defending the contribution of Indian professionals to the American economy. The controversy follows a US suspension of eight companies from the PERM employment-based green card process. The affected firms include TCS, Infosys, Wipro, HCL, Cognizant, Microsoft, Adobe and Capgemini. Vance accused Microsoft of replacing American workers with foreign employees. The US administration says the action is intended to protect American jobs, while India argues that skilled talent mobility benefits both countries through innovation, research, productivity and job creation.

The H-1B visa programme is facing fresh scrutiny in the United States, with a senior US Labor Department official warning that the foreign-labor visa programme could look “very different” 365 days from now. The warning comes as the Trump administration expands investigations into alleged fraud and abuse within the H-1B system. The developments are being closely watched in India because thousands of Indian technology professionals use the H-1B route to work in the United States. US Vice President JD Vance has also signalled tougher measures for companies seeking H-1B workers after laying off American employees.