Joe Biden faces criticism for saying allies India, Japan are ‘xenophobic’ and ‘don’t want immigrants’

US President Joe Biden is facing a backlash in some quarters for characterising India and Japan as “xenophobic” for “not wanting immigrants”, with warnings about a potential diplomatic blunder given Washington’s strengthened ties with the Asian powers to counter China.

Biden’s remarks, which were made on Wednesday night at a campaign fundraising event in Washington where the audience was largely Asian-American, came just weeks after hosting Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for a state visit at the White House.