Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar dismissed US President Joe Biden's comment that "xenophobia" was hobbling the Indian economic growth, according to a report.
The Indian society has been historically very open and its economy “is not faltering”, Jaishankar said while speaking at a round table hosted by The Economic Times. “First of all, our economy is not faltering… India is always… India has been a very 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."
"That's why we have the CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act), 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," the minister added.
This comes days after Biden claimed "xenophobia" was holding back growth in Indian, Chinese and Japanese economies, while arguing that migration has benefited the US economy. "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. Immigrants are what makes us strong," the US President said.
Japan has also responded to Biden's comment, saying it was "unfortunate that comments not based on an accurate understanding of Japan's policy were made."
