Indian foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar rejected U.S. President Joe Biden's comment that "xenophobia" was hobbling the South Asian nation's economic growth, The Economic Times reported on Saturday.

India is not xenophobic, the country's foreign minister has insisted, after comments by US President Joe Biden suggesting the South Asian nation and fellow ally Japan were struggling economically because they rejected immigrants.

Speaking to a largely Asian-American audience on Wednesday, Mr Biden said: "Why is China stalling so badly economically? Why is Japan having trouble. Why is Russia? Why is India?

President Joe Biden on Wednesday called close US ally Japan “xenophobic” at a Washington, D.C., fundraiser, just weeks after lauding the US-Japan alliance at a state dinner.

President Joe Biden has called Japan and India “xenophobic” countries that do not welcome immigrants, lumping the two with adversaries China and Russia as he tried to explain their economic circumstances and contrasted the four with the U.

India has dismissed US president Joe Biden’s assertion that “xenophobia” was causing the economies of certain South Asian nations to stall. Foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar told a roundtable hosted by The Economic Times newspaper that India’s economy “is not faltering”.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has rejected US President Joe Biden’s description of India as “xenophobic” and said that the country has been open and welcoming to people from diverse societies.