On Saturday, Japan and India remarks by U.S. President Joe Biden. He describing them as 'xenophobic' countries who do not welcome immigrants. The president said this during a campaign fundraising event earlier in the week.
Japan said Biden's judgment was not based on an accurate understanding, while India rebutted the comment, defending themselves as the world's most open society.
Biden grouped Japan and India as "xenophobic" countries, along with Russia and China. He tried to explain their struggling economies, contrasting the four with the strength of the U.S. as a nation of immigrants.
Japan has been known for a strict place on immigration. But in recent years, it has loosen its policies to make it easier for foreign workers to come and stay in Japan to alleviate its declining births and rapidly shrinking population.
India, which has the world's largest population, enacted a new citizenship law earlier this year by setting religious criteria that allows fast-tracking naturalization for Hindus, Parsis, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Christians who fled to India from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, while excluding Muslims.
