NEW DELHI — When former U.S. president Barack Obama spoke to a leadership forum in India’s capital, he never once used the words “Donald Trump” and was careful to avoid any direct reference to his successor in the White House.

Yet he made plenty of veiled references, many of which drew laughter from the audience. He talked about the importance of thinking before posting on social media, pointing out he had more Twitter followers than other people “who use it more often.”

He said if somebody told him climate change was a hoax he couldn’t bridge that difference of opinion. And in a rebuke, Obama said that since he signed the Paris climate agreement, there had been “a pause in American leadership.”

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Obama said he could have a debate about climate change with people who said fossil fuels were necessary for growth in poorer nations like India or people who said humans should adapt. But he said he couldn’t debate with people who claimed it wasn’t real.

“If you’re saying it’s a hoax, then there’s no way for us to bridge our differences in a constructive way,” Obama said.

Trump has previously called climate change a hoax.

Obama praised India for helping forge the Paris climate agreement, which he signed last year but which Trump said he planned to withdraw from.

“It’s an agreement, even though we have a little bit of a pause in American leadership, that is giving our children a fighting chance,” Obama said.

When the discussion covered social media, Obama said he uses spell check and punctuation.

“Which my daughters think is odd. They were explaining to us how if you put a period at the end of a sentence it sounds harsh. I said, ‘No, that’s English. That’s how you know the thought is finished.’”

He said he sees people getting in trouble for their tweets, and says they should follow the old advice of thinking before you speak: “Think before you tweet,” Obama said. “Same principle.”

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He said social media is a powerful tool, for both good and ill. “And look, I’ve got 100 million Twitter followers. I actually have more than other people who use it more often.”

The forum on Friday was part of a three-country tour by Obama.

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