Modi is the main face of his party’s campaign in the state of Bihar and any comments from Trump
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi skipped the ASEAN summit in Malaysia to avoid raising the issue of Pakistan during a possible meeting with US President Donald Trump, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.
Modi had abandoned his plans to visit Malaysia this weekend to attend the summit and opted to join the discussions “virtually”. The opposition Congress party had blamed the change of plans on Modi’s fear of meeting Trump.
The annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a grouping of 10 nations, and associated meetings were held from October 26 to 28 in Kuala Lumpur.
“Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stayed away from the regional leaders’ summit in Malaysia this week to avoid meeting US President Donald Trump and having a possible discussion on Pakistan,” sources familiar with the matter said.
“Government officials were concerned that Trump would repeat his claims that he brokered a ceasefire between India and Pakistan after a four-day armed conflict in May, the people said, asking not to be identified because the discussions are private,” Bloomberg reported of the alleged real reason for the summit omission.
He added that Modi was campaigning for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the crucial elections in Bihar and “did not want to risk a meeting with Trump that could end up being embarrassing for the prime minister, the sources said.
“Modi is the main face of his party’s campaign in the state of Bihar and any comments from Trump, particularly regarding Pakistan, could be used by the prime minister’s rivals against him and harm his party’s chances in the elections, they said.”
Bloomberg also reported in August that Modi declined an invitation from Trump to visit the White House, fearing he would arrange a meeting with Army Chief of Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir.
