The Iranian Consulate in the Western Indian city of Mumbai has launched a scathing attack on US President Donald John Trump for labelling India and China as hellhole. Trump also described Indian professionals as “laptop-wielding gangsters” during a radio interview.

A couple of days ago, the US President shared a four-page transcript of remarks made by podcaster Michael Savage on the US’ birthright citizenship where he accused people from India and China of abusing the privilege, stating: “A baby here becomes an instant citizen, and then they bring the entire family in from China or India or some other hellhole on the planet.“

As expected, such a comment has turned the Indo-US relationship rocky. Later, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs criticised “inappropriate” remarks about Indians and their country shared by the US President on his Truth Social account, mentioning in a statement: “They certainly do not reflect the reality of the India-US relationship, which has long been based on mutual respect and shared interests.” The Ministry also called the remarks “uninformed, inappropriate and in poor taste“.

Taking to X, Saeid Reza Mosayeb Motlagh, the Consulate General of the Islamic Republic in Mumbai, shared a video documenting India’s rich cultural and geographical heritage, and claimed that a trip to the South Asian nation could be a cultural detox for the US President. “Maybe someone should book a one-way cultural detox for Mr Trump, it might just reduce the random bakwaas (nonsense),” he wrote in the post.

Thereafter, the US Embassy in New Delhi, in a damage-control move, issued a statement, saying that the President believes India is a “great” country led by a “good friend of mine at the top“. Christopher Elms, the spokesperson for the US Embassy, claimed that President Trump spoke warmly of India and talked of his personal bond with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

250 Bnei Menashe Return To Israel From India
Israel recently launched Operation Wings of Dawn to repatriate Bnei Menashe residents from India. As the initial step in this operation, more than 250 members of the Bnei Menashe community arrived at Ben Gurion Airport on April 23, 2026. The initiative follows a November 2025 decision of the Benjamin Netanyahu Administration to relocate approximately 4,600-6,000 community members, who claim descent from the Ten Lost Tribes, from India in the coming years.

It may be noted that Bnei Menashe is a community of Indian Jews whose ancestors had begun migrating approximately 2,700 years ago, travelling through Persia, Afghanistan, Tibet and China to reach the northeastern part of India. This Tibeto-Burman speaking ethnic group is believed to be the descent from one of the Ten Lost Tribes, allegedly based on the Hmar belief in an ancestor named Manmasi. Some of them have adopted Judaism.

After verifying their alignment with ancient customs and Jewish traditions, the Israeli Government officially recognised the community in November 2025. According to data from the Bnei Menashe Council, nearly 5,000 members of the community have already immigrated to Israel, while roughly 6,000-7,000 Bnei Menashe are still in India and waiting to immigrate to their ancestral homeland.

Ofir Sofer, the Immigration Minister of Israel who welcomed the newcomers at the airport on April 23, 2026, told AFP that their arrival marked a “historic moment”. He stressed: “This is the beginning of an operation that will allow the entire community to immigrate, 1,200 per year.” The minister claimed that all members of the Bnei Menashe community would be temporarily housed in absorption centres in the northern Israeli city of Nof HaGalil.

Meanwhile,

Boundless Ocean of Politics on Facebook

Boundless Ocean of Politics on Twitter

Boundless Ocean of Politics on Linkedin

Contact us: kousdas@gmail.com

Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das