Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not travel to Malaysia and instead will attend the ASEAN leaders’s summit virtually.
This was disclosed by Malaysian PM Anwar Ibrahim on Thursday, who received a phone call from PM Modi.
According to Ibrahim, Modi conveyed his inability to attend the summit citing Diwali celebrations at home.
Sources said that the Chhath festival on Oct 28 was cited as the reason, and its significance given the Bihar elections are upcoming.
This precludes any possible meeting between the two leaders, who were widely anticipated to meet on the sidelines of the summit in Kuala Lumpur.
But, this also means that since the trade deal negotiations is still ongoing, it was not possible for the PM to meet the President. Also, Trump’s repeated comments on the Russian oil import cut and his role in stopping India-Pakistan war had made the situation politically difficult for the Indian side.
Modi and Trump have spoken thrice on telephone in just over a month.
