印度政府批评副总统JD·万斯发表了“极具冒犯性”的言论。万斯在言论中将美国软件公司的外籍雇员（其中许多是印度人）称为“仆人”。
India’s government criticized Vice President JD Vance for “deeply offensive” remarks in which he referred to foreign recruits at software firms in the US, many of whom are Indians, as servants.
周四，万斯与劳工部长基思·松德林因打击涉嫌滥用H-1B工作签证制度的行为，暂停了印度一些最大的IT服务企业与微软公司、Adobe公司参与一项长期移民计划。
Vance and Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling on Thursday suspended some of India’s biggest IT services businesses as well as Microsoft Corp. and Adobe Inc. from a longstanding immigration initiative as part of a crackdown on alleged abuse of the H-1B worker visa system.
万斯敦促美国公司多雇佣美国工人，并“停止引进契约劳工来做美国工人本会乐意为之的工作”。其中，“indentured servant”（契约劳工）一词与殖民时期一种制度有关，当时工人在海外种植园和农场被迫在剥削性条件下劳动。
Vance urged US companies to hire more American workers and to “stop importing an indentured servant to do a job that an American worker would happily do.” dia, the term is associated with a colonial-era system in which workers were forced into labor on plantations and farms overseas under exploitative conditions.
印度外交部周五未直接引用万斯的言论，但表示这些言论“毫无根据，且无视了美国印度专业人士作为高学历、高技能人才对美国经济和创新生态系统的重要贡献”。该部在一份声明中称：“使用带有痛苦历史与殖民遗产含义的词汇，是极具冒犯性的。”
Without citing Vance’s comments, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said Friday the remarks were “unwarranted and ignore the fact that Indian professionals in the United States are highly educated and skilled contributors to its economy and innovation ecosystem.”“Resorting to terminology that carries painful historical and colonial legacy connotations is deeply offensive,” the ministry said in a statement.
过去一年来，由于贸易争端、移民问题以及总统唐纳德·特朗普与印度核武邻国巴基斯坦关系更为密切，印美关系一度紧张。尽管已进行数月谈判，但美印两国高级官员近期表示，贸易谈判目前处于僵局。
India-US ties have come under strain in the past year over trade disputes, immigration and President Donald Trump’s closer ties with Pakistan, India’s nuclear-armed neighbor. Top officials from the US and India recently signaled that trade negotiations are at an impasse despite months of talks.
印度外交部表示，限制技术移民的最新举措“并未推动两国共同的愿景”，因为人才流动对双方都有利。“美国自身的历史正是由一代又一代移民塑造的，他们的劳动、创业精神与创新精神为美国的增长与繁荣作出了贡献。”战略与商业咨询公司“The Asia Group”的合伙人阿肖克·马利克表示，美国对IT公司的最新限制明显针对印度。
The latest steps to curb skilled immigration “do not advance the shared ambitions of both countries” since talent mobility is mutually beneficial, India’s MEA said. “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.”Ashok Malik, a partner at strategy and business advisory firm The Asia Group, said the latest US restrictions on IT firms are clearly targeted at India.
“这将对双边关系产生影响，”他说，“两国之间的信任显然已经受损。”范斯和桑德林宣布的举措针对的是永久劳工认证计划（PERM），该计划允许公司担保已在美国持有H-1B及其他签证的外国人成为合法永久居民，这是成为美国公民的第一步。
“It will have an impact on the bilateral relationship,” he said. “The trust between the two countries has clearly suffered now.”The moves announced by Vance and Sonderling take aim at the Permanent Labor Certification Program, or PERM, which allows companies to sponsor a foreigner who has been working in the US under the H-1B and other visa holders to become a legal permanent resident, the first step to becoming a US citizen.
亚洲最大的软件外包服务提供商——印度塔塔咨询服务公司周五对这些限制措施不以为意，称其不会影响公司的招聘或业务战略。
India’s Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., the largest provider of software outsourcing services in Asia, shrugged off the curbs on Friday, saying they won’t affect its hiring or business strategy.