'Howdy, Modi!' trends on Twitter after Trump's 'filthy India' remark

Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, several including senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal took to Twitter to sarcastically question the PM’s ‘friendship’ with US President Donald Trump after the latter’s remark that 'India sent out filthy air’.

"Look at China, how filthy it is. Look at Russia. Look at India, it's filthy. The air is filthy," Trump said during the final presidential debate with his Democratic challenger Joe Biden in Nashville, Tennessee on Thursday night. Prior to this, Trump had also alleged during his first debate that the Modi government was not making the actual number of Covid-19 deaths public.

Following which, “#FilthyIndia" and "Howdy, Modi" started trending on Twitter with many raising concerns over India’s pollution levels.

Questioning the “fruits” of Trump and PM Modi’s “friendship”, Kapil Sibal tweeted:

In an effort to win support from Indian-American voters, a year ago, Donald Trump hosted a 50,000-person "Howdy Modi" rally in Texas with Narendra Modi last year. Modi had returned the favour in February, organising a 1,10,000-attendee rally for Trump in India.

Another Congress party leader, Srivatsa, wrote, "Modi had spent ₹3.7 crores on flowers & covered up the slums to beautify Trump's route for the 'Namaste Trump' rally in Ahmedabad. But Trump called India 'filthy' in the Presidential debate today! Will Modi respond?"

During the debate, Trump accused China, India and Russia of not taking care of their "filthy air" as he justified the US withdrawal from the "unfair" Paris climate agreement.

Another Twitter user sharing pictures of polluted cities asked if Trump said anything wrong.

Columnist Michael Kugelman wrote, "After Trump's multiple unflattering references to India in these debates, will Narendra Modi reconsider the endorsement he appeared to offer to candidate Trump at the "Howdy Modi" shindig some time back?"

Nearly 21 million Americans have already cast ballots in the 2020 election with less than a fortnight to go for the November 3 presidential election.

(With agency inputs)