Despite the recent show of bonhomie between PM Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump, India and the US again seemed at odds over talks between the leaders as the Indian government denied that they discussed Pakistan in Trump’s Diwali phone call to Modi. It’s also learnt that India is exploring the possibility of Modi addressing the Asean/ East Asia summit meetings in Malaysia virtually later this week, apparently because of the elections in Bihar. This would rule out any likelihood in the near future of an in-person encounter with Trump. The US president said this week he will be in Malaysia for the annual event. He is unlikely to travel though to South Africa for the G20 summit next month, where Modi will be present. Modi has rarely skipped in-person participation in the Asean/ East Asia summit meetings. The PM had earlier this month declined Egypt’s invitation for the Gaza peace summit that was co-chaired by Trump. India has not been enthused by the prospect of a meeting with Trump in the absence of any breakthrough in the trade negotiations, as also the president’s claims ad nauseam about having ended a war between India and Pakistan, but government sources said the likely decision to opt out of in-person participation may also be related to the focus on Bihar elections. Trump said at a Diwali event on Tuesday that he had spoken to Modi and that they had also discussed the need to avoid a war between India and Pakistan. The PM had later in a post on X expressed hope that the 2 countries will stand united against terrorism in all its forms, venting India’s concerns about Islamabad’s growing proximity with Washington under Trump but without naming Pakistan. “Pakistan was not discussed during the phone call between the PM and President Trump,” said a source here, on condition of anonymity. This was the second time in the past 2 weeks that India has denied Trump’s claim that he has tagged to conversations with Modi. India had said last week it wasn’t aware of the conversation between Modi and Trump during which, according to Trump, the Indian PM assured him India would stop buying oil from Russia. The India-US relationship has been making headlines because of the differences over trade but Trump’s unabashed courting of Pakistan has also been a source of unease in bilateral ties for India. Even as India maintains that the ceasefire after Operation Sindoor in May was directly negotiated between the 2 militaries, Trump has not backed down from his claim that he ended the conflict with his threat to impose trade tariffs on India and Pakistan. The relationship saw a dramatic downturn after Modi declined Trump’s invitation in June this year to visit the White House. The visit was always a non-starter for Modi, as Pakistan army chief Asim Munir was also being feted there at the same time.
