Biden calls US allies India, Japan 'xenophobic', says blocking immigrates causes economic woes

US President Joe Biden stirred major headlines after he accused Asian economic giants like China, Japan and India of having “xenophobic” policies towards immigrants.

The American Commander-in-Chief reasoned that this “xenophobia” is part of the reason why the economies of these nations are “stalling”.

“One of the reasons why our economy’s growing is because of you and many others. Why? Because we welcome immigrants,” the 81-year-old president said at a fundraising event for his 2024 re-election campaign, Reuters reported.

“Why is China stalling so badly economically, why is Japan having trouble, why is Russia, why is India, because they’re xenophobic. They don’t want immigrants. Immigrants are what makes us strong,” he added.

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The proclamation came as Biden kickstarted the Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month on Wednesday. Last month, the International Monetary Fund forecasted that both Japan and India would see a growth decelerate in 2024 from the year prior, ranging from 0.9 per cent and 6.8 per cent, respectively.

Biden’s remarks against his allies were jabs at Trump

The latest remarks from the president came at a time when he is campaigning against his Republican opponent Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant stance.

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Immigration has become one of the major issues of the upcoming election, which is expected to be a rematch between Biden and Trump. Biden has time and again stated that legal immigration is an aid to the American economy.

Meanwhile, in his bid to return to the White House, Trump has attacked migrants quite frequently and often used degrading terms against them. During his campaign, the former US President has characterised the migrants as “dangerous criminals” who are “poisoning the blood”.

While Biden tries to broaden economic and political relations with countries including Japan and India to counter China and Russia globally, the recent remarks can turn out to be detrimental to Biden’s second bid for the White House.

With inputs from agencies.