Trump’s India row
- Indian Congress condemned President Trump after he called India a “hellhole” and questioned support for Indians. (x.com) - Party leaders criticized Prime Minister Modi for not publicly rebutting the remark, calling his silence “weak.” (x.com) - The exchange added diplomatic heat to an already tense public political conversation between the two countries. (x.com)
India’s main opposition party opened a new line of attack on Thursday after President Donald Trump reposted a message that described India as a “hellhole,” pressing Prime Minister Narendra Modi to lodge a formal protest. (news18.com) The remark did not originate with Trump himself. News reports said he reposted a video and transcript from conservative radio host Michael Savage’s “Savage Nation,” which attacked U.S. birthright citizenship and referred to “China or India or some other hellhole on the planet.” (indianexpress.com) Congress said the repost was “extremely insulting and anti-India” and accused Modi of staying quiet in front of Trump. News18 and The Times of India both reported the party’s demand that Modi “register a strong objection” with Washington. (news18.com) (timesofindia.indiatimes.com) India’s government answered far more cautiously. At a Thursday briefing, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said only, “We have seen some reports. That’s where I leave it,” according to multiple Indian outlets. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com) (news18.com) The fight sits inside a U.S. argument over birthright citizenship, the rule that grants citizenship to most children born on American soil. Reports on Trump’s repost said Savage used India and China as examples while arguing that immigrants exploit that rule through late-pregnancy travel and later family sponsorship. (news18.com) (firstpost.com) That domestic U.S. debate has now spilled into Indian politics because Congress has tied Trump’s language to a wider pattern of what it calls Modi’s silence on public slights from Washington. Indian news reports noted that opposition leaders had already been criticizing Modi over earlier Trump comments on India-related issues. (hindustantimes.com) (economictimes.indiatimes.com) There was no sign by Thursday afternoon of a detailed public rebuttal from the White House or the U.S. State Department on the India row. India’s official response, for now, remained a single line from its foreign ministry rather than a formal diplomatic protest. (whitehouse.gov) (state.gov) (news18.com) That leaves the immediate dispute where it started: a U.S. immigration argument, amplified by Trump, has become fresh ammunition in India’s fight between Congress and Modi. (news18.com) (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
