Indian-origin US presidential candidate Nikki Haley sparked a row on social media after her controversial statement on World Environment Day calling India “one of the biggest polluters”. Taking to Twitter, Haley said, “If we want to be serious about saving the environment, we need to confront India and China. They are some of the biggest polluters.” This did not go well with the Indians as several Netizens attacked her on the social media platform.
Contributor to the ‘AI book’ Shailendra Malik slammed Haley saying, “I am beginning to believe, Indians as CEOs of different American companies is a good thing but as politicians, they are the most useless of the personalities.”
“Their worldview & the need, to prove to everyone that they can be more American than the Americans or more British than the British, always force them to talk all nonsense about India without seeing the facts,” he added.
A user shared a graph of top carbon dioxide emitting countries (which shows the US as the highest) and said, “Look at your mirror first….”.
Another user asked, “Is she even serious?”
Giving her a “fact check”, a Netizen wrote: “Greenhouse emissions per capita – USA: 17.6 tonnes; India: 2.7 tonnes. The only thing you need to confront is reality.”
“MEA should officially condemn these hypocrites. The days r gone when anyone miscellaneous could say anything to India!”, said another.
Nimarata Nikki Randhawa; born January 20, 1972, is an American politician who served as the 116th governor of South Carolina from 2011 to 2017. A member of the Republican Party, she was the 29th United States ambassador to the United Nations for two years, from January 2017 through December 2018. She is the first Indian American to serve as a member of a presidential cabinet.
Haley was born in Bamberg, South Carolina, and earned an accounting degree from Clemson University. She joined her family’s clothing business before serving as treasurer and then president of the National Association of Women Business Owners.
First elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 2004, she served three terms. In 2010, during her third term, she was elected governor of South Carolina and won re-election in 2014. Haley was the first female governor of South Carolina, the youngest governor in the country, and the second governor of Indian descent (after fellow Republican Bobby Jindal of Louisiana). She was also the first female American governor of Asian American heritage.
Haley served as United States ambassador to the United Nations from January 2017 through 2018, following confirmation by the U.S. Senate in a 96–4 vote, and upon taking the oath of office on January 27, 2017.
(With inputs from agencies)
