US President Donald Trump, during the final presidential debate with Democrat Joe Biden, compared US with India, China and Russia on climate change and said the air quality in these countries is filthy unlike America.

"Look at China. How filthy it is. Look at Russia. Look at India, it's filthy. The air is filthy," Trump said adding that the US has the best carbon emissions in 35 years. "We have the cleanest air, the cleanest water and the best carbon emissions."

The US president also reiterated that he took USA out of the Paris accord as it was "unfair". In November, 2019, the US had formally notified the UN of its withdrawal from the 2015 Paris climate accord, a landmark global agreement which brought together 188 nations, including India, to combat global warming. 

"I walked out of the Paris Accord as we had to take out trillions of dollars and we were treated very unfairly. I will not sacrifice millions of jobs… thousands of companies because of the Paris Accord. It is very unfair," Trump said.

This is the second time that Trump has made a critical reference to India during a debate. At the first presidential debate, Trump questioned India's coronavirus data. 

"When you talk about numbers you don't know how many people died in China, you don't know how many people died in Russia, you don't know how many people died in India. They don't exactly give you a straight count," he had said.

Trump's remarks drew sharp reactions in India with views ranging from somber acceptance of a pollution problem in the country to digs at PM Modi over his "great friendship" with American President and last year's "Howdy, Modi!" event.

According to the projection by the Global Carbon Project published in December 2018, India is the fourth highest emitter of carbon dioxide in the world, accounting for 7 percent of global emissions in 2017.