It seems like Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s recent outreach to Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin in China’s Tianjin has rattled some corners of the American right wing, with prominent MAGA commentators taking to X to criticise India. American television presenter Laura Ingraham and conservative influencer Charlie Kirk were among those lashing out, with posts targeting PM Modi and India’s role in US trade and visas.
‘It’s insane’
Ingraham, retweeting a photo of PM Modi with Xi and Putin, called the gesture “insane,” and went on to complain that any US-India trade deal would require more visas for Indians. “It’s insane that Modi apparently thinks this sort of thing will make the Americans treat him better,” she wrote.
‘Let Modi see what terms he can get from Xi’
“Don’t forget that any trade deal with India will require us to give them more visas. I’d rather not pay them in visas and trade deficits. Let Modi see what terms he can get from Xi instead,” Ingraham said in another post.
‘We’re full’
Kirk echoed her remarks, claiming, “America does not need more visas for people from India… Enough already. We’re full. Let’s finally put our own people first.”
Ingraham called Indian IT outsourcing a scam
Ingraham also backed Donald Trump’s tariffs on India, branding Indian IT outsourcing a “scam.”Reacting to a tweet from Trump where he defended his sweeping tariffs on India, Ingraham said, “Trump’s right about India. And we should end all outsourcing of American jobs to Indian “recruiting” firms. Total scam.”Meanwhile, Trump’s trade adviser Peter Navarro said that “it is a shame” PM Modi shared the stage with the “two biggest authoritarian dictators” during SCO Summit. “The road to peace in many ways runs at least partly through New Delhi. It’s time for Modi to step up. I have great respect for Modi. I love the Indian people. It was a shame to see Modi getting in bed, as the leader of the biggest democracy in the world, with the two biggest authoritarian dictators in the world, Putin and Xi Jinping,” Navarro said.“So we hope that the Indian leader comes around to seeing that he needs to be with us in Europe and Ukraine and not with Russia on this, and he needs to stop buying the oil,” he added.