Jaishankar rejected US President Biden’s comment, said- India is not a hater of foreigners, but very open and welcoming.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has rejected US President Joe Biden’s recent remarks calling India “xenophobic” and asserted that the country has been open and welcoming to people from diverse societies.

Speaking to Economic Times, Jaishankar also refuted the allegation that the Indian economy is faltering. The Union Minister said that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) brought by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government reflects India’s welcome vision.

On April 2, Biden said the “xenophobic” nature of India, China, Japan and Russia is responsible for their economic problems and argued that America’s economy is growing because it welcomes immigrants to its soil. He made the statement while campaigning for his re-election at a fundraising event in Washington and argued that Japan, along with Russia and China, would fare better economically if the countries embraced immigration more.

“Why? Because we welcome immigrants. We see – the reasons – see, think about it. Why is China stalling so badly economically? Why is Japan having trouble? Why is Russia? Why India? Because they don’t want immigrants,” Biden said.

“First of all, our economy is not faltering,” Jaishankar said in an interview published Saturday.

He said, “India has always been… India has been a very unique country… I would actually say, in the history of the world, it has been a society that has been very open… different societies People come to India.”

Jaishankar said the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) brought by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government reflects India’s welcoming approach.

He said, “That’s why we have the CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act), which is to open the doors for people who are in trouble… I think we should be open for people who need to come to India, who have a claim Is.” To come to India.”

Rejecting criticism of the CAA, Jaishankar said, “There are people who have publicly said on record that one million Muslims will lose their citizenship in this country because of the CAA.” He further said, “Why are they not being held responsible? Because no one has lost citizenship.”

During the roundtable at The Economic Times, Jaishankar also spoke on the ongoing anti-Israel protests on US university campuses and criticized a section of the Western media for biased coverage, suggesting that it is “too ideological”. Not “objective” reporting. He said that this section of the media wants to shape the global narrative and is targeting India.

Responding to a question on reports claiming India’s involvement in targeted killings of terrorists in Pakistan, Jaishankar said, “Terrorists are there in large numbers. Statistically, where they are in large numbers, things will happen to them. “Now they have created an industry which is an industry of terrorists…things can happen there.”

Meanwhile, hours after Biden called India, Japan and other countries “xenophobic”, the White House clarified the President’s intentions, stressing his “respect” for allies and partners.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stressed that the president’s comments were part of a broader message emphasizing the strengths derived from America’s immigrant heritage. He stressed that Biden’s focus is on strengthening diplomatic relations with countries like India and Japan, which is evident from his actions in the last three years.

“Obviously, we have strong relations between India and Japan and if you look at the last three years, the President has certainly focused on those diplomatic relations,” he said.