Prime Minister Narendra Modi is unlikely to travel to Malaysia to attend the ASEAN summit beginning Sunday due to scheduling constraints, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.
It is learnt that External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will represent India at the meetings, which will take place in Kuala Lumpur from October 26 to 28. While there has been no official announcement regarding India’s level of participation, New Delhi is understood to have informed Malaysia of Jaishankar’s attendance.
Sources also indicated the possibility of PM Modi participating virtually in the ASEAN-India summit, which forms part of the broader ASEAN deliberations. In recent years, the Prime Minister has personally led the Indian delegation at both the ASEAN-India and East Asia summits.
Malaysia has also invited US President Donald Trump and several other leaders from ASEAN’s dialogue partner countries to the summit. Trump is expected to arrive in Kuala Lumpur on October 26 for a two-day visit.
The ASEAN-India dialogue partnership began in 1992 and was upgraded to a full dialogue partnership in 1995, followed by summit-level engagement in 2002. The relationship was further elevated to a strategic partnership in 2012.
ASEAN comprises 10 member states — Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia.
In recent years, India’s engagement with ASEAN has strengthened significantly, with cooperation expanding across trade, investment, security, and defence.
According to initial plans, PM Modi was also expected to visit Cambodia along with Malaysia, but the visit now stands postponed following the decision to skip the Malaysian leg, the people cited above said.