Jaishankar rebuts Biden’s ‘xenophobic’ remark: ‘India always open, welcoming’

External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar on Saturday rebutted US President Joe Biden’s recent claims.

That ‘xenophobia’ was hindering India’s economic progress as the country, along with many others, does not welcome immigrants. Speaking at a round table organised by The Economic Times, Jaishankar asserted that India has always been “open and welcoming” to people from diverse societies.

Supporting his argument, Jaishankar highlighted that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) enacted by the Central government provides opportunities “for people who are in trouble”.

“That’s why we have the CAA, which is to open up doors for people who are in trouble. I think we should be open to people who have the need to come to India, who have a claim to come to India,” Jaishankar said.

S Jaishankar further asserted that India’s economy was not faltering.

“India always has been a 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 said.

The foreign minister also slammed those who criticised CAA.

“There are people who publicly said on record that because of CAA, a million Muslims will lose their citizenship in this country. Why are they not being held to account?” he said, adding no person has lost citizenship due to the law.

Jaishankar’s response came days after US President Joe Biden had claimed that “xenophobia” in China, Japan, and India was impeding growth in their respective economies, highlighting the positive impact of migration on the US economy.

“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,” Biden had said at a fundraising event for his 2024 re-election campaign.

“One of the reasons why our economy’s growing is because of you and many others. Why? Because we welcome immigrants,” he added.

Following Biden’s comments, the White House went into damage control mode, clarifying that the US President was making a “broader point”. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre asserted that America’s allies and partners “know very well” how much Biden “respects them”.