United States President Donald Trump is said to imitate Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and affect an Indian accent when talking about Modi’s statements to him about the relationship between America and Afghanistan, according to recent reports.
Modi, who met Trump in 2017 at the Oval Office, reportedly said, “Never has a country given so much away for so little in return,” talking about the contributions of the United States in Afghanistan, according to senior administration officials quoted by the Washington Post.
These officials further explained that Modi’s comment was seen by Trump as proof that the world thinks the United States is being misled by Afghanistan. If the claim about Trump putting up Indian accent is true, this is not the first time such talk has emerged.
In 2016, during his election campaign, Trump was reported to have imitated an Indian accent to mock an call center representative from the country.
However, India and the United States have projected a warm relationship in the recent past, with some Indian state ministers calling it an “golden era” between the two countries. The United States’ condemnation of Pakistan has also been appreciated by India. Both India and the United States have called on Pakistan to take stronger action against terrorism budding in its homeland, which affects India and Afghanistan.
Trump allegedly spoke about India’s view on United States’ sacrifice for Afghanistan while justifying sending more troops to the country. The United States is reportedly readying to send up to 1,000 more troops to Afghanistan, which already has 14,000 troops in time for the ‘fighting season’.
The Taliban, which has a very heavy presence in Afghanistan and has been bombing Kabul regularly, begins fighting season in the spring every year. According to author and Afghanistan expert Abdullah Sharif, winter brings a lull in suicide bombings and but “assassinations and attacks on security forces continue.”