MONDAY, MAY 20, 2024
US President Joe Biden has called Japan and India “xenophobic”, grouping them together with Russia and China as countries that “don't want immigrants”. His criticism of Japan came just weeks after he called the US-Japan alliance “unbreakable” during a state visit from Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. India is also a key US partner. Hence, Biden’s comments have expectedly caused a flutter.
Both India and Japan have hit back at the US. Speaking to a predominantly Asian-American audience at a campaign fundraising event, Biden said that the US election this November was about “freedom, America and democracy”.
“Why? Because we welcome immigrants,” he added. “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.”
The US President should have done some homework before passing such a remark. The United States of America, China, Germany, Japan, and India are the largest economies in the world in 2024, as per their GDP data, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The Indian economy is projected to grow at 7.5 percent in 2024, the World Bank has said, revising its earlier projections for the same period by 1.2 percent. The World Bank forecasts India's output growth to reach 7.5 percent in FY24, driven by resilient activity in services and industry.
According to the official website of the Bureau of Economic Analysis, US Department of Commerce, the GDP increased at an annual rate of 1.6 percent in the first quarter of 2024, according to the “advance” estimate. In the fourth quarter of 2023, real GDP increased 3.4 percent. The United Kingdom's economy grew by 0.1 percent in 2023, after a growth rate of 4.3 percent in 2022. 8.7 percent in 2021, and a record 10.4 percent decline in 2020.
India is also one of the world’s top destinations for international migrants. As of 2015, about 5.2 million immigrants live in India, making it the twelfth-largest immigrant population in the world. The overwhelming majority of India’s immigrants are from neighbouring countries such as Bangladesh (3.2 million), Pakistan (1.1 million), Nepal (540,000) and Sri Lanka (160,000). We have never trained guns on immigrants.
According to a news report by a leading UK newspaper, The Guardian, European Union countries in 2020 used brutal tactics to stop nearly 40,000 asylum seekers crossing borders. 2,000 refugee deaths linked to illegal EU pushbacks. Why is Biden silent on these excesses done to illegal immigrants by Europe?
Biden’s predecessor and tipped to be his successor again this year, former US president Donald Trump imposed a “zero tolerance” policy to require the arrest of anyone caught illegally crossing the border, which resulted in separating children from their families. But the US chooses to remain silent on the inhuman living conditions of illegal immigrants in the West, including on its own soil.
Who can forget the picture of a drowned Syrian boy washed ashore on a Turkish beach, that left the world outraged in 2015. The picture showed the body of a lifeless toddler in a red T-shirt, blue pants and tiny shoes lying face down on the beach after a failed attempt to sail with his family to the Greek island of Kos. The image sparked debate on how Europe's refugee crisis is being dealt with. But instead of dealing with the immigration crisis in and around the US, its President chooses to call India a xenophobic.
It is time that the US stops preaching to others on issues that only expose the hypocrisy of the country. Time and again launching verbal attacks on its allies shows the lack of a sound foreign policy and understanding of culture of other countries, especially Asia. Biden should get a reality check before passing remarks on important global issues.
