Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi skipped an Asean summit in Malaysia to avoid raising the Pakistan issue in a possible meeting with US President Donald Trump. Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.
Modi had backed off his proposal to visit Malaysia over the weekend to attend an Asean summit and opted to join the discussions “virtually”. The opposition Congress Party attributed the change in plan to Modi’s fear of meeting Trump.
The annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a grouping of 10 nations, as well as associated meetings, was held from October 26 to 28 in Kuala Lumpur.
“Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stayed away from a summit of regional leaders in Malaysia this week to avoid meeting US President Donald Trump and having a possible discussion about Pakistan,” people familiar with the matter said.
“Government officials feared Trump would repeat his claim that he brokered a ceasefire between India and Pakistan after a four-day armed conflict in May,” said the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private. Bloomberg reported on the alleged real reason behind the lack of attendance at the summit.
He added that Modi was campaigning for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the crucial Bihar elections and that he “did not want to risk a meeting with Trump that could end up being embarrassing for the prime minister,” the people said.
“Modi is the main face of his party’s campaign in the state of Bihar and any comments from Trump, especially on Pakistan, could be used by the prime minister’s rivals against him and damage his party’s chances at the polls, they said.”
Bloomberg He also reported in August that Modi had rejected an invitation from Trump to visit the White House over fears that he would arrange a meeting with Army Chief of Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir.
Relations between Washington and New Delhi plummeted in August after Trump raised tariffs to 50 percent, and U.S. officials accused India of fueling Russia’s war in Ukraine by buying discounted oil from Moscow. Also fueling tensions is Trump’s insistence on ending the May conflict between Pakistan and India, something New Delhi still steadfastly refuses to do.
Earlier today, Trump again claimed that seven planes were shot down during the brief military escalation between Pakistan and India in May.
Tensions between Pakistan and India rose sharply in early May after an attack in Pahalgam in Indian-occupied Kashmir prompted New Delhi to launch “Operation Sindoor,” which targeted sites inside Pakistan and caused civilian casualties.
India blamed Pakistan without providing evidence, further inflaming hostilities between the two nuclear-armed neighbors. Pakistan subsequently launched a retaliatory operation called “Bunyanum Marsoos,” which resulted in exchanges of heavy artillery and drones before a US-led offensive helped broker a ceasefire.
