UNITED NATIONS, Oct 23 (APP): US President Donald Trump portrayed India as ‘filthy’ in the course of a combative but restrained debate Thursday night that gave voters their final chance to size up the candidates before heading to the polls on Nov 3.
During a discussion on climate change, Trump, who is known for his hawkish views on environment, said, “We have the best carbon emission numbers that we’ve had in 35 years.”
“Look at China. How filthy it is. Look at Russia. Look at India, it’s filthy. The air is filthy,” said Trump on being asked about the steps he has taken to address climate change.
In 2017, Trump pulled the US out of the 2015 Paris climate agreement, a global accord in which President Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama had played a key role. The Paris agreement aims to cap global warming “well below” two degrees Celsius.
On his part, Joe Biden, his Democratic challenger, emphasized that climate change is “an existential threat to humanity. We have a moral obligation to deal with it.”
“We’re going to pass the point of no return within the next eight to 10 years,” he said.
Trump’s main contention over years has been that US must not be forced to bear greater burden as compared to other countries in the world. And during the presidential debate in Nashville, Tennessee, Trump appeared to reiterate his stance.
“The Paris accords, I took us out because we were going to have to spend trillions of dollars and we were treated very unfairly,” he said.
Trump has repeatedly blamed countries like India and China for not doing enough on climate change.
India is the fourth highest emitter of carbon dioxide in the world, accounting for 7 per cent of global emissions in 2017, according to the projection by the Global Carbon Project published in December, 2018.
At the first presidential debate, US President Donald Trump also spoke critically of India, questioning its coronavirus data amid criticism of his handling of the pandemic.
