Uninformed, in poor taste: India after Trump's controversial 'hellholes' social media repost

India on Thursday described as “uninformed” and “inappropriate” a social media repost by US President Donald Trump that referred to India and some other countries as “hellholes” in the context of immigration.

India's response came after a controversy was created by Trump reposting comments by American radio show host Michael Savage that contained derogatory references to India.

Savage had made the comments in the context of a case in the US supreme court challenging birthright citizenship.

The US Embassy sought to control the damage caused by the remarks as it put out a message that Trump believes India is a “great” country led by a “good friend of mine”.

“We have seen the comments, as also the subsequent statement issued by the US Embassy in response,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.

“The remarks are obviously uninformed, inappropriate and in poor taste. They certainly do not reflect the reality of the India-US relationship, which has long been based on mutual respect and shared interests,” he said.

Earlier, the spokesperson at the US Embassy said: “The President has said 'India is a great country with a very good friend of mine at the top'.”

The Embassy spokesperson, however, did not specify where and when Trump made the remarks that India is a great country.

In his comments, Savage argued that the current legal system allows immigrants to exploit American laws by arriving in the “ninth month of their pregnancy”.

Such practices create a loophole where a baby here becomes an instant citizen, and then they bring the entire family in from “China or India or some other hellhole on the planet”, he claimed.