ASEAN Summit : External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar Not Prime Minister Narendra Modi Will Attend ; Congress Says Avoiding Meeting US President Donald Trump

Picture : ANI/X

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is unlikely to travel to Malaysia to participate in the meetings related to the ASEAN summit  due to scheduling issues, people familiar with the matter said.

According to media reports , It is learnt that External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will represent India at the meetings. The ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) summit will be held in Kuala Lumpur from October 26 to 28.

There is no official word on India’s level of participation at the deliberations related to the summit.

The people cited above said India is learnt to have conveyed to Malaysia that Jaishankar will represent India at the ASEAN meetings.

There is a possibility of PM Modi’s participation through virtual mode at the ASEAN-India summit.

The prime minister has led the Indian delegations at the ASEAN-India summit and the East Asia Summit in the last few years.

Reacting PM Modi skipping the mee, Senior Congress leader and party General Secretary in charge of communications , Jairam Ramesh Tweeted on X

For days the speculation has been – will He or won’t He? Will Mr. Modi go to Kuala Lumpur for the Summit or not? Now it appears certain that the PM will not go. It means the loss of so many opportunities to hug and get photo ops with world leaders or to flaunt himself as the self-styled Vishwaguru. The reason why Mr. Modi is not going is simple. He just doesn’t want to be cornered by President Trump who will also be there. He refused an invitation to attend the Gaza peace summit in Egypt a few weeks back, precisely for this reason. Posting messages in praise of President Trump on social media is one thing. But to be seen hobnobbing physically with the man who has claimed 53 times that he stopped Op Sindoor and has claimed 5 times that India has promised to stop buying oil from Russia is another matter. It’s far too risky for him. The PM may well be recalling that old hit Bollywood number: Bachke re rehna re baba, bachke rehna re.