China official thrashes 'UK drops behind India' narrative on economy; see corrected tweet

In an unusual development, China has come out in support of India after a UK media company reported the news of India economically surpassing the United Kingdom in a passive voice, and referred to the independent democratic country as a 'former British colony'.  

The company had reported the news by writing, "Britain drops behind India to become the world's sixth largest economy. The former British colony jumped past the UK in the final three months of 2021 to become the fifth biggest economy."

While sharing a screenshot of the report, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lijian Zhao tweeted, "Stop describing the world from the perspective of colonists."

India Surpasses UK To Become World's Fifth-largest Economy

According to GDP figures from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), India has surpassed the United Kingdom to become the world’s fifth-largest economy. India crossed Britain in the last three months of 2021 to become the fifth-largest economy. The calculation is based on US dollars. 

The size of the Indian economy in "normal" cash terms for the three months ending in March was USD 845.7 billion, on an adjusted basis and using the dollar exchange rate on the last day of the relevant quarter. According to the IMF report, the UK had a market value of USD 816 billion. 

India's gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate was 13.5% year-on-year compared to a 20.1 per cent expansion a year back and 4.09 per cent growth in the previous three months to March, official data released on Wednesday showed. It is the sharpest growth witnessed in India's economy in a year.