'India is open & welcoming': Jaishankar rejects Biden's ‘xenophobic’ remarks
PTC News Desk: Rejecting recent remarks by US President Joe Biden describing India as "xenophobic", India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that the country has been open and welcoming to people from diverse societies.
Speaking to an Indian media outlet, Jaishankar also denied that the Indian economy was in trouble. The Union Minister stated that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) enacted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government demonstrates India's welcoming nature.
Joe Biden calls India xenophobic
On April 2, Biden stated that the "xenophobic" attitude of India, China, Japan, and Russia is to blame for their economic problems, arguing that America's economy is booming because it welcomes immigrants. He made the statement while campaigning for re-election at a Washington fundraising event, arguing that Japan, Russia, and China would all benefit economically if they embraced immigration more.
"Why? Because we welcome immigrants. We look to -- the reason -- look, 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.
S Jaishankar replies
Jaishankar stated in an interview released on Saturday that, "First and foremost, our economy is not weakening."
"India is always... India has been a very unique country... I would say actually, in the history of the world, that it's been a society which has been very open... different people from different societies come to India," he went on to explain.
S Jaishankar on CAA
Jaishankar noted that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government exemplifies India's welcoming attitude.
"That is why we have the CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act), which is to provide opportunities for people in trouble... I believe we should be open to people who need to come to India or who have a claim to come to India."
Jaishankar rejected criticism of CAA, saying, "There are people who have publicly stated on record that because of CAA, a million Muslims will lose their citizenship in this country." He went on to say, "Why are they not being held accountable? Because no one has lost their citizenship."
- With inputs from agencies
