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 18th BRICS Summit has concluded with the adoption of a sweeping 140-point New Delhi Declaration, covering trade, geopolitics, terrorism, Gaza, artificial intelligence, global governance and financial reforms. With India leading the BRICS chairship, the summit placed trade, technology and the concerns of the Global South at the centre of discussions, while the bloc also took positions on some of the world's biggest geopolitical flashpoints. A major focus was global trade. BRICS rejected unilateral tariffs and sanctions and called for stronger WTO rules, fairer dispute mechanisms and a more predictable multilateral trading system. The bloc also backed efforts to expand the use of local currencies and faster, safer cross-border payment systems, reflecting the growing push among BRICS nations for greater financial cooperation. WATCH