External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar refuted US President Joe Biden's "xenophobia" remark on Saturday and said that India is the most open, pluralistic, and diverse society in many ways. The EAM asserted that he had never seen a society as diverse and plural as India is.
While interacting with professionals in Bhubaneswar on "Why Bharat Matters", the EAM said, "We are the most open society, till date, I have never seen such an open society, such a pluralistic society, such a diverse society, so I would say that we are actually not just not xenophobic; we are the most open, most pluralistic, and in many ways, the most understanding society in the world."
This comes after Joe Biden said on Wednesday that "Xenophobia" from Russia to Japan and India is affecting their economic growth. He also said that immigration is what makes the US strong, while the other three countries don't want immigrants.
Speaking at a fundraising event for his Presidential re-election campaign in Washington, Biden said, "You know, one of the reasons why our economy is growing is because of you and many others. Why? Because we welcome immigrants. We look to — the reason — look, 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". "Immigrants is what makes us strong. Not a joke. That’s not hyperbole. Because we have an influx of workers who want to be here and just contribute," he further stated.
During the event, Jaishankar also argued that India's economic growth is at 7 percent, which is higher than many other countries. "Secondly, there was some talk about economic performance, you know our GDP is at 7 per cent. You check other people's GDP, check the growth rate and you will get the answer," he said.