Published 22:11 IST, January 16th 2020
"Not like you've got China on your border", says Trump, Modi's reaction priceless
Modi's expression gradually shifted, from shock and concern to resignation," upon hearing the US President's statement on India-China sharing a border.
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Donald Trump had left PM Modi absolutely stumped after he was told by the US President that 'India and China didn't share a border', a book revealed. Authored by two Washington Post journalist, A Very Stable Genius--based on the Donald Trump further mentioned that New Delhi took a "step back" in its diplomatic relationship with Washingon. Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig in their book mentioned that Trump said, "It’s not like you’ve got China on your border" and reportededly, PM Modi's eyes "bulged out in surprise" after the US President evidiced his geographical knowledge and brushed off the possibility of a threat to India from China.
The book mentioned that "Modi's expression gradually shifted, from shock and concern to resignation," adding that one of Trump's aides said that PM Modi likely "left that meeting and said, 'This is not a serious man. I cannot count on this man as a partner." Following the meeting between the heads of India and US, Donald Trump's aide told the reporters, "the Indians took a step back in their diplomatic relations with the United States."
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US President and the Prime Minister of India have met on multiple occassion since both came to power, however, the book does not mention the exact meeting when the incident was recorded. Donald Trump is likely to visit India next month. This isn't the first that that Trump's geographical knowledge was put under the scanner, previously TIME magazine had reported that the US President said that he 'knew both Nepal and Bhutan are a part of India.' The US President, apart from getting his geography wrong, had even mispronounced Nepal and Bhutan.
Unfazed by fierce criticism and fears over his "mental" health, US President Donald Trump described himself as being a "genius" back in January 2018. Identifying "mental stability" and being "really smart" as his two greatest assets, Trump in a series of tweets had said that winning the presidential election on his first attempt qualifies him as a "genius". "I think that would qualify as not smart, but genius and a very stable genius at that!" said Trump in a tweet.
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Imran Khan's geography
Apart from Donald Trump, who was described as 'Dangerously uninformed' in the book by a White House official, another leader joining a similar league is Imran Khan. In April 2019, the Pakistani Prime Minister's Oxford degree was put to test, after Imran Khan claimed that the European country, Germany, shares a border with Japan, an Island in Asia. The Pakistan PM made the statement at a joint press conference in Tehran in April 2019.
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(With PTI inputs)
22:11 IST, January 16th 2020