PM Modi and US President Donald Trump (File photo)
NEW DELHI: US President Donald Trump on Thursday described India as a “great country,” a remark that drew attention as it came just hours after he reshared a social media post with anti-immigration rhetoric referring to India and China as “hell holes.”The clarification was conveyed by the US Embassy in New Delhi, with spokesperson Christopher Elm confirming MAGA supremo’s positive remarks.According to IANS, the spokesperson quoted Trump as saying, “India is a great country with a very good friend of mine at the top.”Meanwhile, India has also responded on Trump’s “hell-hole” post as MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “We have seen some reports. That’s where I leave it.”The response from the US side comes amid backlash over a repost on Truth Social by Trump, who has on multiple occasions referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a “great friend.”The controversial post, which criticised immigration into the United States, referenced countries including India and China in derogatory terms, triggering political criticism. “A baby here becomes an instant citizen, and then they bring the entire family in from China or India or some other hellhole on the planet. You don’t have to go too far to see that. English is not spoken here anymore. That there’s almost no loyalty to this country amongst the immigrant class coming in today, which was not always the case,” it read.It further alleged systemic bias in employment and immigration systems: “You have to be from India or China because almost all the internal mechanisms are set up to run by Indians and Chinese.” The post also claimed that the integration seen in earlier waves of European immigration “is long over,” arguing that the United States has shifted from a “melting pot” to a “cash in pot”.
