US President Donald Trump on Thursday described the air in India and China as “filthy” as he denounced Democratic rival Joe Biden’s plans to tackle climate change. At their second and final presidential debate, Trump renewed his criticism that action on climate change was unfair to the United States. “Look at China, how filthy it is. Look at Russia, look at India — it’s filthy. The air is filthy,” Trump said at the debate in Nashville. Speaking during his second and final presidential debate with Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, U.S. President Donald Trump called India “filthy” and clubbed it with Russia and China — both considered U.S. rivals. The President’s comments were made in the context of the U.S.’s (former) emission commitments under the Paris Climate Accord — Mr. Trump had withdrawn the country from the agreement on the grounds that it was unfair towards America. Trump has previously compared the U.S. to India and China (and sometimes Russia) in the same breath, for instance in the multilateral climate change context or in the context of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which, according to Mr. Trump, has treated the U.S. unfairly. More recently his comparisons have been on the amount of known coronavirus cases versus the amount of testing and how the U.S. is testing far more than other countries, including India. The language used on Thursday, however, was stronger than normal and comes a few days before U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defence Secretary Mark Esper are scheduled to travel in New Delhi to meet their counterparts for the U.S.-India 2+2 ministerial. They are also scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Trump’s comments sparked strong reactions on social media. How dare u @realDonaldTrump call us… #FilthyIndia Ur disgusting..@PMOIndia ur a shame to take this comment lightly — RiA D’Souza (@RiaRevealed) October 23, 2020 “Look at India … it’s filthy. The air is filthy.” – Trump, Modi’s friend. — Ashok Swain (@ashoswai) October 23, 2020