Trump's description of India as filthy sets off calls for cleaner air
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[October 23, 2020]
By Neha Arora
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald
Trump's description of India as a filthy place with polluted air has
unleashed calls on social media for urgent clean-up action, particularly
over New Delhi, the world's most polluted capital.
Defending the clean air in the United States, Trump made the comment
during his final debate on Thursday with Democratic rival Joe Biden
ahead of the Nov. 3 presidential election, saying "Look at India. It's
filthy. The air is filthy."
On Friday, air pollution in New Delhi and surrounding cities was at its
worst in eight months, with the air quality index surging above 300 on a
scale of 500, indicating "emergency conditions".
Trump referred to India to defend his decision to pull out of the Paris
climate accord, said one environmental expert.
"Trump's commentary on India's air in the backdrop of his justification
from withdrawing from the Paris pact is unfortunate and juvenile," said
Vimlendu Jha, the founder of an activist group, Swechha.
"America is historically the largest emitter in the world and currently
the second largest one," he added.
Trump was correct, said Kapil Mishra, a member of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
"Trump is right," Mishra said on Twitter. "Our air quality is actually
filthy. In Delhi, we are breathing poison. Time for all of us to come
together and deal with the real reasons."
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Traffic moves on a smoggy morning in New Delhi, October 23, 2020.
REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui
Modi's Hindu nationalist party is not in power in New Delhi, which
is ruled by the liberal Aam Aadmi (Common Man) Party, officials of
which have often sparred with BJP functionaries over blame for the
poor quality of air in New Delhi.
In a 2017 interview with Reuters, Trump complained that China,
India, Russia and other countries were paying too little to help
poorer countries battle climate change under the Paris accord's
Green Climate Fund.
"It’s not a fair situation because they are paying virtually nothing
and we are paying massive amounts of money," he said at the time.
(Reporting by Neha Arora; Editing by Mayank Bhardwaj and Clarence
Fernandez)
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