Barack Obama has never said India will go bankrupt under Narendra Modi as PM - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 8, 2022
A post is being shared on social media claiming that former US President Barack Obama has recently made a statement saying that India will go bankrupt if Narendra Modi comes to power again in the country. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Former US President Barack Obama said India will go bankrupt if Narendra Modi regains power in the country.
Fact: Barack Obama did not make any such statement against Narendra Modi’s governance or predicted about Indian economy going bankrupt. In his book ‘A Promised Land’, Barack Obama expressed his concerns saying that BJP is touting divisive nationalism in India. Although Obama praised Manmohan Singh multiple times for his contribution to the modernisation of the Indian economy, he did not make any statement about the Indian economy going bankrupt under the Narendra Modi’s governance. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When we searched to check whether former US President Barack Obama had made any such statement saying India will go bankrupt if Prime Minister Narendra Modi regains power in the country, we could not find any news report about such a statement by Obama. If Barack Obama had made such a statement, it would have been reported widely. Barack Obama did not make any such comments against Narendra Modi or the Indian economy on his official Twitter and Instagram handles.
Barack Obama in his memoir  ‘A Promised Land’, released in 2020, expressed his concerns over divisive nationalism allegedly touted by BJP in India. According to the reports, Obama in his book stated, “I wondered what would happen when he (Dr. Manmohan Singh) left office. Would the baton be successfully passed to Rahul, fulfilling the destiny laid out by his mother and preserving the Congress Party’s dominance over the divisive nationalism touted by the BJP?”
While expressing his opinion about Narendra Modi at the 2017 Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, Barack Obama said, “I like him. I think he has a vision for the country. He is modernizing elements of bureaucracy.” Further, Obama added, “I was also great friends with Dr (Manmohan) Singh. When you look at the steps Dr. Singh took to modernizing the economy; it was the foundation for modernizing Indian economy.” Barack Obama during the summit regarded both Manmohan Singh and Narendra Modi as sound leaders and praised both for taking bold steps to develop India’s economy and US-India relationship.  Although Barack Obama praised Manmohan Singh’s contribution in modernising the Indian economy on multiple occasions, he never undermined the Indian economy under Narendra Modi as PM.
To sum it up, former US President Barack Obama has never said India will go bankrupt under Narendra Modi’s governance.