New York sources reported that when talking to reporters before a cabinet meeting in Washington on Wednesday, Trump said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi told him about a library that India had built in Afghanistan and mockingly said: “I don’t know who’s using it in Afghanistan.” Trump, who is known for his intemperate and undiplomatic off-the-cuff remarks, added that what India had spent was the equivalent of what the US spends in five hours “and we’re supposed to say, ‘Oh, thank you for the library’.”
Meanwhile dismissing Trump’s taunt, an Indian source in New Delhi said “India firmly believes in the critical role that developmental assistance can play in transforming human lives. “India does not send its armed forces abroad except under the specific mandate of UN peacekeeping operations.” So far, India has not officially or formally reacted to Trump’s taunt.
Moreover Trump appeared to be lashing out against criticism in the US and abroad against his decision to reduce by half the number of US troops in Afghanistan to 7,000 and India was caught in a context-less, free-wheeling diatribe. Furthermore this and his decision to pull out of Syria sparked the resignation of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. Under Trump, the US has moved for closer strategic ties with India, giving it the status of a major defense partner and entering into several security related agreements.
