Japan and India reject Biden’s comments describing them as xenophobic countries

By MARI YAMAGUCHI
Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) — Japan and India have decried remarks by U.S. President Joe Biden describing them as “xenophobic” countries that do not welcome immigrants while he was speaking during a campaign fundraising event earlier in the week. Japan said Biden’s judgment was not based on an accurate understanding of its policy, while India rebutted the comment, defending itself as the world’s most open society. Biden grouped Japan and India as “xenophobic” countries, along with Russia and China as an explanation for their struggling economies, in contrast to the U.S. as a nation of immigrants. Both Japan and India are key U.S. allies in the Indo-Pacific against an increasingly assertive China.