Prime Minister Narendra Modi will skip the 47th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in person, which also means that he will not meet US President Donald Trump. On October 22, PM Modi dialled his Malaysian counterpart Anwar Ibrahim and informed him that he would participate in the summit virtually because the event coincides with the Deepavali celebrations in India, PM Ibrahim said in a Facebook post Thursday.
“We also touched upon the upcoming 47th ASEAN Summit to be held in Kuala Lumpur at the end of this month. He informed me that he will be attending virtually, as the Deepavali celebrations will still be taking place in India at that time,” PM Ibrahim said on Facebook.
The Malaysian PM said that he respects PM Modi’s decision and extended Deepavali greetings to him and the people of India.
PM Modi’s phone call with PM Ibrahim
“Last night, I received a telephone call from the Prime Minister of the Republic of India, Narendra Modi, to discuss efforts to strengthen Malaysia–India bilateral relations to a more strategic and comprehensive level,” PM Ibrahim wrote in a Facebook post.
He added, “India remains an important partner for Malaysia in the fields of trade and investment, in addition to close cooperation in technology, education, and regional security.”
“Malaysia will continue to remain committed to strengthening Malaysia–India relations and further enhancing ASEAN–India cooperation towards a more peaceful and prosperous region,” he concluded his Facebook post.
India-US ties
Ties between India and the US have been strained over a trade dispute after Trump imposed 50 per cent tariffs on Indian exports, partly as a response to India’s oil purchases from Russia. Earlier this week, Trump mentioned that he had spoken with Modi, who assured him that India would reduce its imports of Russian oil. However, the Indian government has not confirmed that it plans to follow through on those assurances.
On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump reiterated that India is set to significantly reduce its imports of Russian oil by the end of the year, after he claimed to have received assurances from Prime Minister Modi. He went on to say that India is planning to bring its purchases “down to almost zero” before the end of this year.
“India, as you know, told me that they would stop,” Trump claimed, before adding, “It is a process; you can’t just stop it.”
He went on to say, “But by the end of the year, they will be down to almost nothing. That’s a big thing, that is almost 40 per cent of the oil.”
Trump also praised India, saying, “India has been great. Spoke to Prime Minister Modi yesterday and they have been absolutely great.”
Trump’s remarks about India reducing its Russian oil imports by nearly 40 per cent came during his address to the media from the Oval Office.
