Modi skipped summit due to worries Trump would mention Pakistan: Bloomberg
ISLAMABAD: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stayed away from a regional leaders summit in Malaysia to avoid meeting US President Donald Trump and having a possible discussion about Pakistan, Bloomberg reported, quoting people familiar with the matter.
The Indian prime minister was initially supposed to attend the meeting in person. However, he changed his plans at the eleventh hour and decided to participate in it virtually.
According to the Bloomberg report, the officials in the government were apprehensive that Trump would repeat his claim that he mediated a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, which India has consistently denied.
Modi didn’t want to risk a meeting with Trump that could end up being embarrassing for the prime minister, especially with a crucial state election in Bihar set to begin next week.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stayed away from a regional leaders summit in Malaysia this week to avoid meeting US President Donald Trump and having a possible discussion about Pakistan, people familiar with the matter said.
This comes after the two leaders spoke on the phone on the occasion of Diwali last week. Speaking to the reporters after the call, Trump said he told Modi not to have a war with Pakistan.
“We talked about trade — we talked about a lot of things, but mostly the world of trade, he’s very interested in that. Although we did talk a little while ago about let’s have no wars with Pakistan,” he said.
Relations between India and the US have soured since the Pakistan conflict five months ago, with Trump slapping 50% tariffs on Indian exports in August, half of which is a penalty for the South Asian nation’s purchases of Russian oil. Trade negotiations have dragged on since then, without any clear sign of a deal yet.
Earlier this month, President Trump claimed that Modi had assured him India would stop buying Russian oil – a claim Indian External Ministry denied.
Modi has since avoided going to two regional summits where he could potentially meet Trump. According to Bloomberg, Modi’s team didn’t see any clear outcomes from a possible bilateral meeting with Trump in Malaysia, the people said. A call between the two leaders last week hadn’t met New Delhi’s expectations, one of the people said.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Modi is campaigning for his party in a crucial state election that kicks off next week, and he didn’t 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 Bihar state, and any comments by Trump, especially regarding Pakistan, could be used by the prime minister’s rivals against him and damage his party’s chances at the polls, they said. Monitoring Desk
