NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to attend an Asean summit in Kuala Lumpur next week where he would need to balance his ties with the Quad and Brics, The Hindu reported on Monday.

It said US President Donald Trump and Chinese Premier Li Qiang were expected to be present with leaders or representatives of Russia, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. Brazil President Lula da Silva and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will attend as observers at the Asean-related summits.

“This means Mr Modi will have the chance to meet all counterparts from the Quad and key founder members of Brics as well, as India prepares to host both summits in the next year, if he does travel to Kuala Lumpur this week,” The Hindu said.

It said although India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has not so far confirmed Mr Modi’s participation, Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan announced last week that he would attend the Asean-related summits, including the EAS, and government officials said Mr Modi was “likely” to attend.

‘India is the only common factor between two groupings often antithetical to each other’, says The Hindu

India was meant to be the host of the Quad Summit this year, but with India-US tensions overshadowing the past few months, officials have indicated the Quad Summit could be held in 2026. India will also take over as chair of the Brics, and host the summit of the 11-nation grouping of emerging economies in 2026.

“India is the only common factor between the two groupings often antithetical to each other, as one includes the US and its allies, while the other includes Russia and China,” the paper said.

In addition, President Trump’s trade tariffs, threats against India for buying Russian oil, sanctions on Iran (a new Brics member), and threats to slap 100pc tariffs on the Brics members that he accuses of backing a common currency to counter the US dollar, have added to the strain.

“The downward trend in global economic growth, uncertainty in investment flows and interest rates, unilateral measures and supply chain disruptions have come to define the current international economic landscape,” MEA Secretary (Economic Relations) Sudhakar Dalela told a conference in Delhi last week.

“India’s Brics chairship comes at a time when the world is navigating through multiple challenges, particularly affecting the Global South countries,” he said, describing India’s plans to host the summit in the 20th year of Brics.

Meanwhile, Indian and American officials working on setting up the meeting between Mr Modi and Mr Trump at the sidelines of the Asean summit, have also been discussing scheduling the Quad summit, but no date has emerged thus far, a number of diplomatic sources told the paper.

If the US-India-Australia-Japan summit cannot be held this year, as is looking more likely, it will be the second year in a row that India-US tensions will have derailed New Delhi’s plans.

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2025