India's government pushed back hard on Friday against a remark by Vice President JD Vance about foreign tech workers.

In a statement, India's foreign ministry called Vance's words "unwarranted." It said Indian workers in the U.S. are "highly educated and skilled contributors" to its economy, the Washington Examiner reported. "Resorting to terminology that carries painful historical and colonial legacy connotations is deeply offensive," the ministry said, according to CNBC and the Examiner. The statement named "the US Vice President" directly.

The phrase hits a nerve in India. Under British, Dutch and French colonial rule, more than 1.6 million Indian workers were shipped abroad as indentured laborers. They worked on plantations and built railways, Al Jazeera reported.

The ministry also tried to calm Indian workers. It said the U.S. move will not affect existing H-1B visas or the status of visa holders and their families, CNBC reported. "Talent mobility adds value to both economies," it said, adding that the suspensions "do not advance the shared ambitions of both countries."

The stakes are large for Indian families. Roughly 70% of H-1B workers are from India. Nearly 1 million Indians in the U.S. on work visas are stuck waiting for green cards. That is about 79% of the backlog, Al Jazeera reported.

Indian tech firms also responded. Tata Consultancy Services said its H-1B filings have been in the "single digits" for two years. It plans to hire 15,000 more people in the U.S. over five years, CNBC reported.

The dispute began Thursday. The Labor Department barred Microsoft, Adobe and six outsourcing firms, five of them Indian, from PERM, the program that lets employers sponsor workers for green cards. Vance said companies "cannot lay off American workers and then replace them with foreign indentured servants."

What we know: India has formally objected to Vance's words and says current visas are safe.
What we don't: Whether the White House will respond, or how long the suspensions will last.