India defends Indian professionals in US after Vance remarks, warns of green card fallout

New Delhi: India on Friday called the remarks by the US vice-president, JD Vance, on Indian professionals unwarranted and said the use of terminology carrying painful historical and colonial connotations was “deeply offensive”. The external affairs ministry’s spokesman, Randhir Jaiswal, also said the US steps on the Permanent Labor Certification (PERM) programme did not advance the shared ambitions of the two countries.

Briefing reporters, Jaiswal said such descriptions ignored the fact that Indian professionals in the US were highly educated and skilled contributors to its economy and innovation ecosystem. The history of the US itself, he said, had been shaped by generations of immigrants whose labour, enterprise and innovation contributed to its growth and prosperity.

On PERM, Jaiswal said India was aware of the US labour department’s decision concerning certain companies and stressed that the programme was distinct from the H-1B visa. The suspension of PERM applications did not by itself affect the validity of existing H-1B visas or the status of visa holders and their dependents, he said.

He added that it could have some impact on the permanent residency and green card process of eligible employees of the affected companies. India was following developments closely, he said.

Talent mobility benefited both economies, Jaiswal said, creating opportunities for Indians while helping US companies with talent, research, innovation, productivity, competitiveness and job creation. India expected all stakeholders to appreciate this mutual benefit, he said.

PERM is the labour-certification step employers must complete before sponsoring a foreign worker for an employment-based green card. The US labour department has in recent weeks suspended the filings of companies including Cognizant and Cloudera, citing an investigation into alleged visa fraud, according to media reports.

Asked about India-US trade talks, Jaiswal said the two countries were in discussions to conclude a mutually beneficial bilateral trade agreement. Talks on all issues would continue in the coming days, he said.

On West Asia, Jaiswal said India and Liberia were steering a “Group of Friends” on the safety of seafarers, whose first meeting was held in New York with the foreign ministers of both countries presiding. About 25 countries linked to commercial shipping and the seafaring community joined the meeting, he said, and strongly condemned the string of attacks on commercial ships and seafarers in the Gulf and Black Sea regions.

The aim, he said, was to bring the safety of seafarers and commercial shipping to the centre of global discourse. It would also strengthen international cooperation so that ships were not attacked and seafarers remained safe.

On Indian nationals recruited into the Russian army, Jaiswal said India believed 259 had been recruited in total and 149 have been released; India was in talks with the Russian government on the remaining 69, who it believed were still in the Russian army, he said. Although Jaiswal did not say so, the other 41 are presumed to be dead or missing.

He said India had no data on how many Indians had taken Russian citizenship and suggested the question be put to the Russian embassy or Moscow’s foreign ministry.

Jaiswal said attacks on Saudi Arabia had caused some disruptions and India strongly condemned the attacks on civilian infrastructure. Other than that, he said, there were no other connectivity issues.

India and Bangladesh held a meeting of their Joint Working Group on Trade in New Delhi on Thursday and Friday, Jaiswal said, adding he was not sure whether it had concluded. The talks, led at joint-secretary level, focused on trade matters on the bilateral agenda, he said.

Water-related issues, including the Ganga water treaty, were discussed within the Joint Rivers Commission, he said.

Jaiswal also reiterated India’s consistent position that the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (Unmogip) had outlived its relevance after the Shimla Agreement.