The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday registered a strong objection over US President Donald Trump’s post referring to India and China as a “hellhole on the planet.” The government issued a statement terming the remark "inappropriate" and "in Poor Taste".
"In response to further questions on a social media post that had referred, among other things, to Indians, Official Spokesperson Shri 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 statement read.
Earlier in the day, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the ministry had seen the reports but did not offer further comment. He was seen avoiding a direct response to Trump’s post referring to India and China as a “hellhole on the planet.” The MEA spokesperson said the ministry had seen the reports but did not offer further comment.
MEA Reacts To Trump’s ‘Hellhole’ Remark
During a weekly press briefing, Jaiswal acknowledged seeing the reports, saying, “We've seen some reports. That's where I'll leave it.” The remarks came after Trump shared a transcript from a conservative talk show hosted by Michael Savage. In the discussion, Savage spoke about US birthright citizenship and made controversial comments about immigrants coming from countries including India and China. He said that people arrive in the US late in pregnancy and gain automatic citizenship for their child.
Trump Shares Transcript Citing Controversial Remarks
The reshared letter quoted Savage as saying: "So that's the problem. The Constitution was written before air travel, needless to say, before television, before the internet, before radio, and you could say, how relevant are some of these arguments when people are coming here by aeroplane in the ninth month of their pregnancy?"
He added, “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. There’s almost no loyalty to this country among the immigrant class coming in today, which was not always the case."
Meanwhile, Iran has sharply responded to Trump’s post, calling the two countries as "cradles of civilisations." In a post on X, Iran in Hyderabad wrote, “China and India are the cradles of Civilization. In fact, the #hellhole is where its war-criminal president threatened to decimate the civilization in Iran.”
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