By: Surjit Singh Flora
Campaigning for the US presidential election is in full swing. Meanwhile, the last official debate between Donald Trump and his Democratic rival Joe Biden for the presidency took place on Friday. The US presidential election is scheduled for November 3.
During the debate, Trump said, “If you look at India, the environment is very filthy. Look at India, how filthy its air is.” Look at China, how filthy it is. Russia is filthy. We have clean air, water, and the environment is clean.
He justified the United States’ move by withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement and saving billions of American dollars. Although his remarks about China are not entirely correct, about India is not wrong. There is truth in that. India has been very careless in their environment clean progress. The forests have been cut down and cleared, and the cities now look like stone forests. Vehicles expired ten to fifteen years ago are still emitting smoke on the roads and polluting the environment.
The latest case is the burning of straw. So far, the government has not persuaded the farmers to understand that polluting they refrain from burning the straw fully. It can also be said that the level of filthy pollution in India has returned. Over the past few weeks and years, air quality in Delhi and other northern Indian cities has declined sharply. This is bad news for India’s ongoing fight against the coronavirus. Many studies worldwide have clearly stated that air pollution could be the leading cause of the increase in cases of COVID-19 and lead to higher mortality.
On Friday morning, shortly after Trump’s remarks, ” filthy ” and “Howdy! Modi” came to the fore on Twitter.
For Indians, Trump’s remarks are even more shocking as the Prime Minister has spared no effort in singing the praises of Trump.
“Howdy, Modi!” About 50,000 people attended an event in Houston in September 2019. It is often considered one of the essential receptions by foreign leaders in American history. Mr. Trump called it a “deep historic gathering.”
Kapil Sibal, a senior leader of the Indian Opposition Congress Party, asked whether President Trump’s remarks on India resulted from “friendship” between the leaders of the two countries and, therefore, the consequences of the boat! Modi, most of us admit that Trump visited India in February this year when Modi performed brilliantly for his “good friend,” which included singing, dancing and an outdoor reception at the cricket ground.
As President Trump has called India dirty, Now the question is: will Biden be better than Trump about India?
Joe Biden is an experienced politician who has spent almost his entire political career on Capitol Hill. After the Pokhran-2 test, he played a crucial role in India’s goodwill and trade relations and, therefore, in the US-India Civil Nuclear Agreement Modi-Obama Indo-US Relations. Played an important role.
It is also a bitter truth that both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris openly support Pakistan on the Kashmir issue. Joe Biden and his team had earlier assured Pakistan that it would bring a bill in Congress against India to repeal Article 370 and introduce a CAA bill.
As we know, PM Modi indirectly supports Trump in the Modi program through “Aki Bar” in the US; similarly, in India, Trump did the program “Namaste Trump.” Prime Minister Modi Shared the stage with.
Whether Donald Trump is better for India than Joe Biden and his vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris?
As India, China, Russia and many other countries have different environmental issues and challenges that need to be addressed, but Trump’s remarks are full of racism and hatred. It is also worth noting that these remarks are being made by the President under whose leadership the United States withdrew from the Paris Declaration on Global Climate Change in 2017.
Trump’s policies and beliefs have always been racist. Protests erupted in the United States after the assassination of a black George Floyd by a police officer, and his discriminatory views were exposed on the planet.
The truth is that “India should not limit itself to insulting and harassing Trump’s words, ‘India is dirty’; instead, they need to take it as a challenge and a clean environment and pollution.” With which no one would ever dare to say again that India is dirty.
Not only that, the increase in air quality in recent weeks is bad news for India’s fight against Covid-19, as many studies around the world have linked pollution to the rise in Covid-19 cases and deaths. And doctors and epidemiologists warn that the toxic air will only hinder India’s fight against the virus.
A study by Harvard University found that a mere one microgram increase in PM 2.5 per cubic meter could increase the number of deaths caused by Covid-19 by 8%. Another study by scientists at the University of Cambridge in the UK also linked covid-19 infection and long-term air pollution.
The question raised by the US President has made India think again about the steps they need to maintain the air quality in cities. If the Corona epidemic increases due to pollution, it is likely to increase the damage.
India needs to take the initiative to clean up India’s environment and polluted air so that no other Trump can point the finger at India tomorrow.
