Uninformed, inappropriate and in poor taste, New Delhi retorts
NEW DELHI, April 23: The US on Thursday sought to control the damage done by a controversial social media repost by US President Donald Trump, putting out a message that the American leader believes India is a “great” country led by a “good friend of mine”.
The President has said “India is a great country with a very good friend of mine at the top”, the spokesperson of the US embassy said, hours after Trump posted a controversial and strongly worded letter on Truth Social referring to India, China and other countries as “hellholes,” while sharply criticising birthright citizenship in the US.
“A baby here becomes an instant citizen, and then they bring in their entire family from China, or India or some other ‘hellhole’ on the planet,” the letter states, using language that has drawn attention for its reference to multiple countries, including India.
India strongly expressed its reservations over Trump’s remark, calling it “uninformed, inappropriate and in poor taste.”
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “We have seen the comments, as also the subsequent statement issued by the US Embassy in response. The remarks are obviously uninformed, inappropriate and in poor taste. They certainly do not reflect the reality of the India-US relationship, which has long been based on mutual respect and shared interests.”
The Congress on Thursday questioned the silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Trump’s post using a derogatory term for India and asked whether he will get some time to react to this “intimidation” and “indignation” of 140 crore Indians.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also asked what Modi is scared of and what is stopping India in raising the issue at the highest level with the American government.
“Modi ji’s dear friend, ‘Namaste Trump’ has shared a note abusing India and using an extremely disparaging term. Modi ji remains absolutely mum on these ridiculous utterances,” Kharge said in a post on X. (Agencies)
