Calling US President Donald Trump’s repost “uninformed, inappropriate and in poor taste”, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday took strong exception to the controversial social media post referring to India and China as “hellholes”, as a fresh diplomatic row erupted between New Delhi and Washington.The remarks appeared in a repost on Trump’s Truth Social platform, where he amplified content from a conservative commentator attacking American immigration and birthright citizenship laws.The post claimed that migrants exploit birthright citizenship by travelling to the US and securing citizenship for their children, referring to their countries of origin as “China, India or some other hellhole on the planet”.The development comes amid an intensifying debate in the US over immigration and citizenship rights, with Trump doubling down on his long-standing opposition to birthright citizenship.India initially reacted cautiously, with the MEA avoiding direct criticism. “We’ve seen some reports. That’s where I’ll leave it,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said during the weekly briefing when asked about the controversy.Shortly after, US officials sought to contain the fallout. A spokesperson for the US Embassy in New Delhi underscored Trump’s past remarks describing India as a “great country” and highlighted his personal rapport with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “The President has said India is a great country with a very good friend of mine at the top,” the spokesperson said.However, as the row seemed to snowball into a major controversy, the MEA again issued a statement calling the remarks inappropriate. “We have seen the comments, as also the subsequent statement issued by the US Embassy in response. The remarks are obviously uninformed, inappropriate and in poor taste,” Jaiswal said.He further stated that the remarks certainly did not reflect the reality of the India-US relationship, which had long been based on mutual respect and shared interests.The controversy also drew international reactions, with Iran publicly pushing back against Trump’s characterisation. In a post on X, Iran’s consulate in Hyderabad described India and China as “cradles of civilisation” and criticised the language used, while taking a swipe at Washington’s own conduct.Domestically, the Opposition mounted a sharp attack on the Centre’s initial “restrained” response. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge accused the government of remaining silent in the face of an “insult” to India, questioning why the issue was not taken up at the highest diplomatic levels.He also linked the episode to broader concerns over India-US ties, alleging that New Delhi had failed to firmly assert its interests in recent engagements with Washington.Congress MP Manish Tewari struck a more pointed note, criticising the official response as lacking resolve and calling for a clearer assertion of India’s civilisational identity on the global stage.