Look at India, it is nasty, the air is filthy’ — Trump

‘Look at India, it is nasty, the air is filthy’ — Trump, once again, at presidential debate

Trump had made a similar remark during the first debate on 29 September when he said India, China and Russia contribute to global pollution.

New Delhi: In the climate change segment of the final US presidential debate Friday, President Donald Trump once again said India’s air was “filthy”.

“Look at China, how filthy it is. Look at Russia and also look at India — it’s nasty. The air is filthy,” he said during the debate with his Democratic rival Joe Biden in Nashville, Tennessee. “I marched out of the Paris Accord as we had to pull out trillions of dollars and we were healed very unfairly,” Trump said, answering a question on climate change.

Trump had given the same remark during the 1st debate on 29 September when he linked India with China and Russia and stated these countries contribute to intercontinental pollution. “China sends up real dirt into the air. Russia and India does — they all together do,” he had said. Trump’s newest statement was in response to debate moderator Kristen Welker’s question on how he would combat climate change and help job growth meanwhile. He made the statement while claiming that the US has the “lowest number in carbon emissions”. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden did not make any comments on India.

Trump’s views on climate change and India

Trump has made the same comments about India’s air quality even prior to the presidential debates.

During an interview to UK-based television network ITV in May, he had said: “China, India, Russia, many other nations, they have not very good air, not very good water, and the sense of pollution. If you go to particular cities…you can’t even breathe, and now that air is going up…They do not do the responsibility.”

In 2018, he had argued his decision to back out of the Paris deal by arguing that it would have made the US pay for countries like India and China that were benefiting the most. “Other countries, immense countries — India and others — we had to pay, because they believed them a rising country. ‘They were a growing country. I said, What are we? Are we allowed to grow, too? Ok? No, Are we allowed to grow?’” he had said.

His new remark on India’s air quality during the final debate came after a study by US-based Health Effects Institute found air pollution to be the major health risk in India, and rising challenges about the possible negative impact of toxic air on Covid19 patients with respiratory issues.

India has reported over 7.7 million Covid19 cases in total so far, which is less than the US’ tally of 8.45 million. However, for the first time since 8 August, India is no longer the country reporting the most new cases in the world.