A day after US President Joe Biden claimed that several countries, including India, are “xenophobic” because they do not welcome immigrants, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar today rejected the remarks.
Speaking to The Economic Times, Jaishankar highlighted that India has always been open and welcoming to people from diverse societies.
The US President, in his remarks, also alleged that India’s economy was faltering and not doing well, while the US economy was growing. Rejecting President Biden’s claims, Jaishankar made it clear, “First of all, our economy is not faltering.”
Jaishankar’s statement is based on the fact that India has been the fastest-growing major economy in the world for the last few years, while also becoming the fifth-largest global economy last year. India is also poised to become the world’s third-largest economy before the end of the decade.
On May 2, President Biden had said “You know, one of the reasons why our economy is growing is because of you and many others. Why? Because we welcome immigrants. We look to the reason (behind this) think about it. Why is China stalling so badly economically? Why is Japan having trouble? Why is Russia? Why is India? Because they’re xenophobic. They don’t want immigrants.”
The US President said this while campaigning for his re-election for the US Presidency at a fundraising event in Washington.
