Trump mocks Modi over ‘Afghan library’

WASHINGTON/NEW DELHI – US President Donald Trump has mocked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for funding “a library” in Afghanistan, saying it wouldn’t be used in the war-torn country.

“I get along very well with India and Prime Minister Modi. But he is constantly telling me he built a library in Afghanistan. Library! That’s, like, five hours of what we spend (in Afghanistan),” the POTUS said yesterday during his first cabinet meeting of the year.

Trump added that “(Modi) is very smart. We are supposed to say, ‘Oh, thank you for the library.’ Don’t know who’s using it (the library) in Afghanistan. But it’s one of those things. I don’t like being taken advantage of.”

It was not immediately clear which library Trump was referring to, but Delhi reacted sharply to Trump’s jibe at PM Modi, saying that it has been doing immense development work in the war-ravaged country that spans across building roads, dams, schools and even parliament.

Both Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the main opposition Congress were united in their criticism of the US president.

“May be Trump should know that while he is decrying every other help in Afghanistan, India has been building not only libraries, but roads, dams, schools and even parliament building.

May be Trump should know that while he is decrying every other help in Af, India has been building not only libraries, but roads, dams, schools n even parliament building. We are building lives, for which d Afghan people thank us, no matter what others do or don’t. https://t.co/VUOIm1nuQd

— Ram Madhav (@rammadhavbjp) January 3, 2019

“We are building lives, for which the Afghan people thank us, no matter what others do or don’t,” Ram Madhav, a BJP General Secretary, said on Twitter.

Congress said India did not “need sermons from the US on Afghanistan.”

https://twitter.com/rssurjewala/status/1080813617249947648

According to the Embassy of India in Afghanistan, the current development partnership between India and Afghanistan renders India the country’s largest donor in the region with its assistance exceeding $3bn.

https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/viral/welcome-to-trump-village-india-town-renamed-ahead-of-modi-us-visit/

Last month, Trump put forth a motion to cut US forces in Afghanistan to reduce spending, a proposal that would see the current deployment of 14,000 troops reduced by half. As of 2017, the cost of American involvement in the region had surpassed US$2 trillion.