Highlights:
- US President Donald Trump says, “Look At India, It’s Filthy” talking about climate change
- Trump blames countries like India and China for not doing much to tackle climate change
- MP from Shiv Sena points out the hypocrisy from the US President
The President of the United States of America referred to what he called the “filthy air” in India, China and also Russia as he defended his decision to pull out of the Paris accord and denounced Democrat rival Joe Biden’s plans to tackle climate change in a presidential debate today.
During the second and the final debate ahead of the US Presidential polls on 3rd November, Donald Trump said, “Look at China, how filthy it is. Look at Russia. Look at India. The air is filthy. I walked out of the Paris Accord as we had to take out trillions of dollars and we were treated very unfairly,”.
He added, “I will not sacrifice millions of jobs… thousands of companies because of the Paris Accord. It is very unfair,” at the televised debate in which the two presidential candidates avoided shaking hands due to safety risks.
Joe Biden retorted that the climate change is “an existential threat to humanity. We have a moral obligation to deal with it.”
Biden added, “We’re going to pass the point of no return within the next eight to 10 years,”.
Remarks from Donald Trump came just days before Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Mark Esper visit to New Delhi for talks on building the growing US-India partnership.
This is not the first time where Trump has made a critical reference to India during a debate. At the first presidential debate, Trump questioned India’s coronavirus data saying, “When you talk about numbers you don’t know how many people died in China, you don’t know how many people died in Russia, you don’t know how many people died in India. They don’t exactly give you a straight count,”.
The remarks from the President of the US drew sharp reactions in India, with some urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi to give a strong and fitting reply to Trump’s statements. Opposition leaders like Congress’s Kapil Sibal seized the comments to take a swipe at PM Modi’s well-known bonhomie with President Trump.
Political analyst Tehseen Poonawalla urged PM Modi to give a strong response to the US President. “Remember how our IRON LADY Martyr Indira Gandhi ji took on the US and showed Henry Kissinger and Richard Nixon their place,” he tweeted.
Member of Parliament from Shiv Sena, Priyanka Chaturvedi, expressed regret over the “unfortunate comments” made by the US leader, reminded him that India stands committed to climate change goals.
Also Read: Why Should You Follow PM Modi’s Advisory For COVID-19 This Festive Season?
What an unfortunate comment to make about India, @realDonaldTrump .
— Priyanka Chaturvedi (@priyankac19) October 23, 2020
Reminder: India stands committed to climate change goals, US chose to withdraw, much against the wishes of many Americans. Thank you.
Back in the year 2017, Trump pulled the US out of the 2015 Paris climate agreement, a global agreement in which the US President Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama had played a key role. The Paris climate accord aims to cap global warming “well below” two degrees Celsius.
The US President has repeatedly blamed countries including India and China for not doing enough on climate change. However, the UN has applauded India’s efforts on curbing the emission.
India is the fourth biggest emitter of carbon dioxide in the world, accounting for 7% of the global emissions in 2017, according to the projection by the Global Carbon Project published in December, 2018.
The top 4 CO2 emitters in the world which make up for 59% of global emissions are as follows:
- China: 27% of world Carbon dioxide emission
- The United States of America: 15% of world Carbon dioxide emission
- The European Union: 10% of world Carbon dioxide emission
- India: 7% of world Carbon dioxide emission
