PM Modi To Skip ASEAN Summit In Kuala Lumpur, Will Join Virtually Citing Deepavali Celebrations; EAM Jaishankar To Lead Delegation

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not be travelling to Kuala Lumpur to attend the ASEAN summit this weekend and instead will be there virtually.

“Had a warm conversation with my dear friend, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim of Malaysia. Congratulated him on Malaysia’s ASEAN Chairmanship and conveyed best wishes for the success of upcoming Summits. Look forward to joining the ASEAN-India Summit virtually and to further deepening of the ASEAN-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership,” said Modi on X.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim confirmed the phone conversation with the prime minister and wrote on social media. “We touched on the organization of the 47th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur at the end of this month. He informed me that he will attend virtually due to the ongoing Deepavali celebrations in India at that time.”

The Ministry of Eternal Affairs issued a statement saying that External Affairs S. Jaishankar will be deputed to lead the Indian delegation to Kuala Lumpur. “External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar will represent Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the 20th East Asia Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 27 October. The East Asia Summit will provide an opportunity to deliberate on the challenges to peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and also exchange views on regional and international developments.”

This is not the first time the prime minister has declined to personally attend an ASEAN summit meeting. Modi opted out of an ASEAN meet on November 12, 2022, in Phnom Penh, and India was instead represented by Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar.

The timing of this ASEAN summit coincides with especially tricky moments in the drawn-out negotiations New Delhi and Washington are having on trade, with the Damocles Sword of even more Trump tariffs complicating the scenario.

The summit, which comes after a series of contentious statements by President Trump against the prime minister, was seen as a chance for both leaders to reaffirm the relationship at the highest level.

Opinion has remained divided as to the prime minister’s decision. Michael Kugelman, a non-resident senior fellow at the Asia-Pacific Foundation of Canada, believes that a meeting between the leaders at ASEAN would help “clear the air, finalise a trade deal, and gauge Trump’s willingness to attend the Quad leaders summit in India.”

Indian analysts do not agree. Former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal believes the prime minister’s noshow is the “right decision.” Pointing out that the ModiTrump meeting would have been inevitable had the prime minister attended the summit, the unpredictability of the US president would have presented “political risks” for India.

“It is best to avoid a meeting with Trump unless the trade deal is sealed beforehand. The trade deal has to be finalised by the negotiators on both sides, not by the principals. Trump wants to set terms personally and publicly to get all the credit himself for any deal. He has also shown how he can embarrass other leaders with his brashness.”

Others agreed that the prime minister’s actions were conveying the message that Modi would only meet Trump once the India-US deal was done. Geostrategic commentator Brahma Chellaney said on X that “Modi’s decision to skip the Trump-attended ASEAN summit will be read as a deliberate move to keep his distance from the mercurial U.S. President, who has kept up thesqueeze on India with high tariffs and secondary sanctions.”

While most Indian commentators believe Modi’s decision is the right one, it remains to be seen how President Trump is likely to react given that the prime minister has already ducked out of a meeting with him earlier in the year. Speaking at a rally in Bhubaneswar on July 20 the prime minister said that he had declined Trump’s invitation to visit the White House in favour of coming to Odisha and in the process he deftly avoided a situation where he would have come face to face with the Pakistani army Chief Gen Asif Munir. Avoiding being at the ASEAN summit physically reduces the chances of diplomatic accidents.

Ambassador K.C. Singh, however, believes that placating Trump right now could have caused India more problems than positive outcomes. “The prime minister has already spoken to him. Being next to him (Trump) can have unpredictable outcomes, with the president repeating his mediation claims and how he blocked a nuclear Armageddon, etc.,” he said. “It’s sensible to stay away from Donald Trump until a trade deal is done.”