The Asean summit will be held in Kuala Lumpur on October 26-27.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, next week for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and the East Asia Summits and could meet US President Donald Trump on the sidelines. India has so far not officially announced the visit.
The Asean summit will be held in Kuala Lumpur on October 26-27. India is not a member of Asean but has a separate engagement with the grouping called the Asean-India Summit, which is due to take place on October 27 in the Malaysian capital. India is also a participant in the East Asia Summit.
According to reports, President Trump is also likely to attend the summit. China may be represented by its Premier Li Qiang. The Asean summit will be immediately followed by the East Asia Summit. Summit host and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had already invited both Mr Modi and President Trump.
If a meeting between Modi and President Trump takes place, it will be their first face-to-face encounter since February this year when Modi visited Washington DC just weeks after President Trump began his second term in office. It will also be the first meeting since President Trump imposed the steep 50 per cent tariffs on India in August, half of which is a penalty or sanctions imposed on India for buying Russian oil. The two leaders have spoken a few times on the phone, with India appreciating the efforts of President Trump to resolve the Gaza conflict and earlier when Trump called Modi to wish him on his 75th birthday.
The Asean members are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, with Timor-Leste joining as the full-fledged 11th member of the Southeast Asian grouping.
