【By Observer Net, Qi Qian】

Recently, there has been some awkwardness between US President Trump and Indian Prime Minister Modi.

On October 21st, local time, Trump spoke at a Diwali event held in the United States, stating that he had called Modi and discussed the India-Pakistan issue. Subsequently, Modi posted on social media expressing hope that the two countries would unite to jointly combat all forms of terrorism, but did not mention Pakistan explicitly.

According to a report by The Times of India on the 23rd, an anonymous source said: "The conversation between Modi and Trump did not discuss the issue of Pakistan." The report pointed out that this is the second time in the past two weeks that India has denied Trump's statement about his call with Modi.

Earlier, the US and India had a heated argument over tariffs and purchasing Russian energy. Last week, Trump publicly announced that he had spoken with Modi, who promised not to purchase Russian energy again. However, India later denied it.

Modi seems to think that the atmosphere between the two is delicate, and it is not suitable for a meeting at this time.

On October 23rd, local time, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar posted on the social media platform X, stating that Modi called him and said that due to the celebration of Diwali, he would be absent from the ASEAN Summit being held in the country and is expected to participate in the meeting via video conference.

Modi said he would attend the ASEAN Summit via video conference, screenshot of the post

Bloomberg and Reuters both reported that this means Modi will miss the opportunity to meet with Trump at the ASEAN Summit.

It is introduced that the ASEAN Summit will be held in Kuala Lumpur from October 26th to 28th, and major trade partners of ASEAN such as China, Japan, India, the United States, and the European Union are expected to send representatives. Malaysia previously stated that Trump will visit the country on the 26th. Reuters mentioned that people generally speculated that Trump might meet with Modi in Kuala Lumpur.

Modi posted on X: "Looking forward to participating in the ASEAN Summit via online means and further deepening the comprehensive strategic partnership between ASEAN and India."

Modi did not explain the reason for missing the summit. The Prime Minister's Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of India did not immediately respond.

Indian media such as The Times of India and Press Trust of India (PTI) stated that Modi decided not to go to Malaysia because of scheduling issues. Currently, India is holding Diwali celebrations, and Bihar is in a critical period of elections. A person familiar with the matter said that India's Foreign Minister Sujan Singh is likely to represent Modi at the ASEAN Summit.

"Modi rarely misses the ASEAN Summit," The Times of India said. In addition to scheduling conflicts, this decision may also be related to the trade issues between the US and India. At present, India faces high tariffs of up to 50% from the US, and trade negotiations between the two countries have not made progress.

This February, Trump met with Modi at the White House, Visual China

Trump announced in August that he would impose an additional 25% tariff on Indian goods, raising the total tariff level to 50%. This additional tariff measure will take effect on August 28th, local time. Trump said this was to "punish" India for continuing to purchase Russian oil.

Facing Trump's trade pressure, the Indian government took a firm stance, insisting on purchasing Russian energy.

Last week, Trump claimed that Modi had promised to stop purchasing Russian oil in their phone call. However, the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs quickly issued a statement denying that the two heads of state had held a call, but did not confirm or deny any changes in the policy on energy imports.

After being "embarrassed" by the Indian government, Trump still insisted that he had received Modi's promise. On the 19th, local time, Trump warned during an interview that if India does not reduce its purchases of Russian oil, the US will not cancel the large tariffs.

This article is an exclusive article from Observer Net. Without permission, it cannot be reprinted.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7564321272747639331/

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