Modi to skip Asean summit, likely miss out on Trump meeting

[KUALA LUMPUR] India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi will skip a regional leaders summit in Kuala Lumpur, missing out on a possible meeting with US President Donald Trump.

Modi called Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to inform him that he will attend the Association of South-east Asian Nations summit virtually, Anwar said in a Facebook post on Thursday (Oct 23).

“He announced that he would attend online given the Deepavali celebrations that are still being celebrated in India at that time,” Anwar said. “I respect the decision and extend my Deepavali greetings to him and all the people of India.”

India and the US have been locked in a trade dispute after Trump slapped 50 per cent tariffs on the South Asian nation’s exports, partly to penalise the country for buying oil from Russia.

Trump said on Tuesday that he spoke with Modi, who assured him that India would cut Russian energy purchases. New Delhi has not confirmed it would comply with Trump’s demands.

Indian local media reported that Modi was unlikely to travel to Malaysia because of scheduling issues and would likely be represented by External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. BLOOMBERG