President Joe Biden is known for making a mockery of the high office he holds by his frequent gaffes and loose-cannon statements. Throughout his decades of public service, he has earned a reputation for often saying the wrong thing at the wrong time to the wrong person. He once confused François Mitterrand, the former French president who died in 1996, for France’s current president, Emmanuel Macron. He even forgot the name of Hamas while replying to a question about the ongoing negotiations between Israel and the terrorist group. One therefore treats some of the remarks of the octogenarian president as merely a comic relief. But what he said on Thursday deserves strong condemnation. Speaking at a Washington fundraising event for his 2024 re-election campaign, Biden called India and Japan “xenophobic” countries, lumping the two with adversaries China and Russia as he tried to explain their economic “troubles”. In one of the weakest defence of the president’s outbursts, the White House said that he meant no offence to either country.
Biden, of course, was playing to the gallery as he was addressing primarily an Asian audience. After all, he is up against Republican candidate and former president Donald Trump, who has promised to curb illegal immigration and restrict legal migration if elected to office. Biden, on the other hand, has advocated for a more humane-stance on the issue of migrants. But a poll recently found that over half of US adults think that “Biden’s presidency has hurt the country on cost of living and immigration”. But domestic political compulsions don’t mean one has the licence to abuse a nation, which is a key partner of Washington in the Indo-Pacific region.
Less than a year ago at the G20 summit, China had stridently opposed India’s pitch for ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ (the world is a family) as the theme. But the theme was included in the Leaders Declaration, of which Biden was a signatory. The US ought to explain why its president changed its mind so drastically and so swiftly. There is no doubt that India’s work visa policy for foreigners is quite strict and needs to be relaxed. It’s also true that India has to go a long way to improve the ecosystem for expatriate employees. But that certainly does not count as xenophobia. Is this the way US should treat a country, which, in Biden’s words, is an “indispensable partner” and shares “US’ commitment to the promotion of human freedom and dignity”?
Even more laughable is Biden’s comments that xenophobia is the reason for “stalling economic growth” in India, Japan and China. India remains the fastest-growing major economy and its growth rate has been upgraded by both the World Bank and the IMF. The latter has raised its growth projection for India’s GDP in the current fiscal year to 6.8%, and forecast a 6.5% expansion next year. The latest FY25 forecast is a 0.3 percentage point upward revision from January’s projection. No one is denying that the country can do much better and still has a long way to go, but terming India’s economic growth as stalling is nothing but yet another gaffe by the US president. There is no doubt that America is a nation of immigrants, and is able to attract people from around the world to contribute to its economy, communities and companies. So there are lessons to be learnt. But running down India to prove a domestic political point is totally uncalled for.