United States secretary of state Marco Rubio remarked that “every country has stupid people” while responding to a reporter’s question on recent instances of alleged racism towards Indians and Indian-Americans in the US.
Rubio was addressing a news briefing shortly after meeting external affairs minister S. Jaishankar in New Delhi when a reporter asked for his view on what he called a growing intolerance, saying, “This goes against the premise of the US-India relationship.”
Seeking clarification, Rubio asked, “What comments? Who made those comments?”
The reporter replied, “We all have seen those comments. We have seen endorsement of those comments. It's very well-known, sir.”
Responding to this, Rubio said, “I don't know how to address that, but I'll take it seriously about those comments. I am sure there are people who have made comments online and in other places too, because every country in the world has stupid people. I am sure there are stupid people here (in India), and there are people in the United States who make dumb comments all the time.”
Rubio reiterated the “welcoming” nature of the United States, calling it a country “enriched by people who come from all over the world, become Americans and assimilate into our way of life.”
“That’s all I can comment regarding your question,” he added.
The reporter’s question points to the recent controversy over comments amplified by US President Donald Trump that referred to India as a “hellhole”.
Last month, Trump reposted a transcript from conservative radio host Michael Savage criticising birthright citizenship in the US, in which immigrants from “China or India or some other hellhole on the planet” were mentioned.
The ministry of external affairs termed the remarks “uninformed, inappropriate and in poor taste”, while several lawmakers and advocacy groups in the US also condemned them as racist.
Rubio’s visit is aimed at shoring up relations battered by Washington's tariffs and engagement with New Delhi's rivals, Pakistan and China, especially given Trump’s proximity to Islamabad’s top man, field marshal Asim Munir.
India-US trade deal soon
The US secretary of state said Delhi and Washington are close to finalising a “beneficial” and “sustainable” trade agreement.
“We’ve made tremendous progress, and I think we’re going to wind up with a trade agreement between the US and India that is going to be enduring, beneficial to both sides and sustainable,” Rubio said.
He maintained that the Trump administration’s trade push was part of a broader effort to rebalance US trade globally and not aimed specifically at India, while also stressing that Washington’s engagement with countries like China and Pakistan would not come at the expense of its strategic partnership with New Delhi.
"This is about the United States in terms of trade. The President did not say: 'Let's figure out a way to create friction with India over trade'. The President came in and said, 'We have a trade situation involving the US economy that doesn't work moving forward'," Rubio explained. "There's a huge imbalance that's built up, and it needs to be addressed. He pursued it from a global perspective."
Emphasising India’s role as “an important strategic partner of the United States”, Rubio clarified that relations between India and the US “have not lost momentum”, adding that both sides are “strategically aligned” on almost all key global issues.
“India-US relations will come out much stronger in the coming years,” Rubio said, while expressing hope that the long-pending trade deal between the two countries would be finalised soon.
The two sides discussed the Middle East conflict, trade, visas, maritime security and energy supplies.
After the meeting, Jaishankar said India supports “unimpeded” maritime commerce and welcomed the recent cooperation between India and the US in the energy sector.