India, Dec. 15 -- Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday made an indirect reference to US President Donald Trump during her speech in the Lok Sabha, as she outlined India's economic performance and pushed back against Opposition criticism.

Responding to demands from Opposition members for her reaction to Trump's earlier remark describing India as a "dead economy," Sitharaman said assessments of the country's economic health should be based on credible data rather than individual comments, regardless of who makes them.

"So somebody said something somewhere, however important that somebody is, we should not depend on that but rely on data available within the country and also data coming from elsewhere. Rely on data," she said in t...