US President Donald Trump said that PM Narendra Modi kept telling him about a library built in Afghanistan | Photo Credit: PTI

Washington: US President Donald Trump mocked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for financing a library in Afghanistan, suggesting that it was of no use in the war-torn country. During a press conference on Wednesday, Trump said that the Indian PM was "constantly telling me he built a library in Afghanistan."

"You know what that is? That's like five hours of what we spend. And we're supposed to say, 'Oh, thank you for the library.' I don't know who's using it in Afghanistan," Trump was quoted as saying by news agency AFP. India, which has pledged to commit $3 billion in aid to Afghanistan, has undertaken projects such as the construction of an elite school besides scholarships to 1000 Afghan students in India every year.

India has also constructed Afghanistan's Parliament at a cost of $90 million. In 2015, while inaugurating the Parliament building in Kabul, Modi also reiterated India's commitment to "empowering Afghan youth with modern education and professional skills"- AFP reported.

Referring to the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, Trump said, "Russia used to be the Soviet Union. Afghanistan made it Russia because they went bankrupt fighting in Afghanistan." It may be noted that in a bid to cut down expenses, Trump, last month, pulled 2000 troops out of Syria. His administration also reduced the troop size in Afghanistan to half from existing 14,000.