The president says India is not doing enough in war-torn Afghanistan.
It looks like the Donald Trump- Narendra Modi bromance is off to a bad start in the New Year. In his first cabinet meeting of the year, held on Wednesday, Trump took a jibe at Modi. The president mocked India’s attempts to build a “library,” in Afghanistan, saying that it is of no-use in the war-torn country.
Trump also said that India and other countries were not doing anything for the security of the country.
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While the president mentioned his good terms with India, he was quick to discredit Modi’s attempts in Afghanistan. He said: “I could give you an example, where I get very well along with India and Prime Minister Modi. But he is constantly telling me that he built a library in Afghanistan. Library? That’s like five hours of what we spend (in Afghanistan).”
The president added: “And he (Modi) tells me, he’s very smart. And we’re supposed to say, Oh, thank you for the library. Don’t know who’s using it in Afghanistan. But it is one of those things I do not like being taken advantage of.”
Trump also pointed out his friendly terms with Modi, and said: “I say this, India. (I have a) great relationship with Prime Minister Modi. He’s a great gentleman and a great man and has done a fantastic job. He has brought the country together.”
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But he repeatedly belittled India and its neighboring countries for not doing enough in Afghanistan. While responding to a question from reporters, he said: “Why is Russia not there (In Afghanistan)? Why isn’t India there? Why isn’t Pakistan there? Why are we there? We are 6,000 miles away. But I don’t mind. We want to help our people. We want to help other nations.”
Answering another question on whether India’s role in Afghanistan should be security related, Trump said: “I think, India should be involved in Afghanistan. I mean, I’ll give you an example. You can talk about our generals. I gave our generals all of the money they wanted, they didn’t do such a great job in Afghanistan. They’ve been fighting in Afghanistan for 19 years.”