New Delhi: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday responded strongly to allegations of rising anti-India rhetoric in the US, saying President Donald Trump remains a “big fan” of both India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.Addressing the controversy during a media interaction in Delhi, Rubio rejected suggestions of systemic hostility towards Indians in the US and reiterated Washington’s commitment to strengthening ties with New Delhi.“The president is a big fan of India, a big fan of Prime Minister Modi. I wouldn’t be here if the president didn’t want me to be here,” Rubio said.He added: “He would not have sent someone like Sergio Gore to be our ambassador, someone very close to the president.”The question directed at Rubio was widely seen as a reference to previous statements attributed to Trump, in which he reportedly called India and China “hell” while criticizing the abuse of US birthright citizenship laws.His comments came amid controversy over a widely circulated clip of an earlier interaction in which he responded to a question about alleged racist comments targeting Indians and Indian Americans in the United States.
In clarification of his previous response, Rubio also said that he asked the journalist to identify who made the alleged statements but did not receive a clear answer.“The bottom line is that in the modern age, when you go online, you have people saying all kinds of crazy things. I don’t even know if they’re real people or who they are,” Rubio noted.
The original question referred to “racist comments” allegedly made against Indians in the United States, which many interpreted as an indirect reference to previous statements attributed to Trump regarding immigration and birthright citizenship.Earlier, during the dialogue, the journalist asked: “There have been a lot of racist comments coming from the United States against Indians and Indian Americans. And you know that this goes against the basic premise of the Indo-American relationship. What is your take on that?”When Rubio asked for clarification on who specifically made such statements, the journalist responded: “We all saw those comments. We saw support for those comments.”
In response to the widespread accusations, Rubio said such comments should not be treated as representing an entire country. “I don’t know how to deal with that, but I’m going to take that seriously,” Rubio said.“I’m sure there are people who wrote comments online and elsewhere, because every country in the world has stupid people. I’m sure of that.” [there are] People are stupid here. “There are stupid people in the United States who make stupid comments all the time.”Rubio, who is on a four-day visit to India, also addressed questions regarding Pakistan’s alleged role in facilitating communications during the ongoing US-Iran conflict.Asked whether India had raised concerns about Pakistan acting as a mediator, Rubio said New Delhi’s concerns about Pakistan remained focused on terrorism.“They are always concerned about that. India always points out the fact that there are armed terrorist groups operating from Pakistani soil that are targeting India. They are always concerned about that,” Rubio said.He added, “But regarding the role they played as a mediator and facilitator in the Iranian situation, it was never addressed. I don’t think they will complain about that. I mean, their issue with Pakistan is different.”
