NEW DELHI : US president Donald Trump’s lack of grasp of geography nearly wrecked a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, says a new book by two Washington Post journalists.

The book, titled A Very Stable Genius, begins with references to an “uninformed" remark made by Trump to Modi, according to a Twitter post put out late on Wednesday by Warren Bass, a senior editor at the Wall Street Journal.

The 417-page book, named after Trump’s self-declaration of his deep knowledge about the world, is written by Philip Rucker and Carol D. Leonnig.

“Trump told a shocked Indian Prime Minister Modi, ‘It’s not like you’ve got China on your border’." New reporting by the great @PhilipRucker and @CarolLeonnig," Bass said in his post. According to the book, “Modi’s eyes bulged out in surprise" after Trump’s comment, media reports quoted the book as saying.

“Modi’s expression gradually shifted, from shock and concern to resignation."

Trump aide concluded that Modi likely “left that meeting and said, ‘This is not a serious man. I cannot count on this man as a partner’."

India and China share a 4,000-km border that remains largely undemarcated, a legacy of their 1962 war.

When asked to comment on the matter, Indian foreign ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar said on Thursday: “Frankly, it is very difficult for me to comment. We don’t have that mechanism to confirm or deny what is in the book. It is there in the book but I don’t have the mechanism in place to comment on that statement."

Since assuming office in January 2017, Trump has been at the receiving end of jokes and criticism for his way of dealing with global and foreign policy issues.

Last year, there was an uproar in India after Trump said Modi had sought his mediation on Kashmir. The Indian foreign ministry issued a denial and foreign minister S. Jaishankar followed it up with a statement to Parliament.

According to an AFP report, the book also recounts a tour by Trump of a memorial for the USS Arizona, a US warship that was sunk by Japanese planes in the 7 December, 1941 surprise attack on Pearl Harbour. “Hey, John, what’s this all about? What’s this a tour of?" Trump is quoted as asking his then-chief of staff John Kelly

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