India has dismissed as "uninformed" comments shared by United States President Donald Trump that described the country as a “hellhole”, saying they were inappropriate and inconsistent with the strong relationship between the two countries.
The comments were made by conservative commentator Michael Savage in an episode of his Savage Nation talk radio show. Trump posted a transcript of the show on his Truth Social account without any comments.
“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,” Savage said, according to the transcript.
"That there's almost no loyalty to this country amongst the immigrant class coming in today, which was not always the case. No, they're not like the European Americans of today and their ancestors."
Trump has issued a directive seeking to restrict birthright citizenship in the US, a move that has been challenged in the US Supreme Court. Earlier this month, he attended a hearing on the issue in a historic visit to the court.
India's foreign ministry reacted strongly to the comments on Friday.
"The remarks are obviously uninformed, inappropriate and in poor taste," Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement.
"They certainly do not reflect the reality of the India-US relationship, which has long been based on mutual respect and shared interests."
The US embassy in New Delhi said: "The president has said 'India is a great country with a very good friend of mine at the top'."
China's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
India's main opposition Congress party called the "hellhole" remark "extremely insulting and anti-India" and said it "hurts every Indian".
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi should take up this matter with the US President and register a strong objection," the party said on X.
Indian government data shows nearly 5.5 million people of Indian origin live in the US. Indian Americans and Chinese Americans are the two biggest groups of Asian origin in the US.
Trump and Modi enjoyed warm ties during Trump’s first term, but relations cooled after India was hit last year with some of the highest US tariffs, many of which were rolled back this year. India and the US are now working on a trade deal aimed at preventing any renewed increase in tariffs and boosting sales to each other.
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