A leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has landed in hot water after he made a controversial statement in response to recent mob attacks on African nationals in India while appearing on a TV show on Al Jazeera.

The BJP lawmaker, Tarun Vijay, triggered outrage on social media when he referred to the population of south India as "black" while he appeared on The Stream via Skype.

He said that if India was a racist state, "we would not live with black people around us ... we have black people all around us."

"If we were racist, why would ... all the entire South — you know, Kerala, Tamil, Andhra, Karnataka — why do we live with them?” Vijay asked.

"We are the victims of the British people for long," he added as he stated that India was not a racist country.

Vijay added that calling India a racist nation was "vicious" and that attacks such as on African nationals were carried out by "mindless" people.

However, the lawmaker took to Twitter to clarify his comments, stating that his statement was a "badly formed sentence" and therefore, being "misinterpreted."

In subsequent tweets, Vijay urged those criticising him to watch the show before "reacting angrily."

Around a dozen African students were injured last month when a mob angered by the death of a local teenager went on the rampage in a satellite city of New Delhi last Monday.

The violence erupted after a group of Nigerian students who were detained in connection with the teen's death were released without charge, with police saying there was no evidence against them.

The vicious assault was captured on camera and shared widely on social media, triggering concern over a rise in racist violence against Africans in India.

Following the brutal attack, representatives of African countries had accused the Indian government of failing to do enough to stop racist attacks on their nationals.