NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has backtracked from his proposed visit to Malaysia at the weekend to attend an Asean-related summit, joining the discussions “virtually” instead, it was officially announced on Friday.

The opposition Congress party blamed the change of plan on Mr Modi’s fear of meeting President Donald Trump. The annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a 10-nation grouping, as well as associated meetings, will be held from Oct 26 to 28 in Kuala Lumpur.

The Hindu said the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had not provided any reason for Mr Modi’s decision, though the paper quoted Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim as saying that Mr Modi had cited the “ongoing Deepavali celebrations” as the reason for the change in plans.

The MEA announced that External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will represent Mr Modi and lead the Indian delegation at the East Asia Summit in Kuala Lumpur on October 27. Asean is a key pillar of India’s Act East Policy and Asia-Pacific vision, the ministry said.

Congress says Indian PM’s change of plans betrays his reluctance to meet Trump

The Congress claimed that Mr Modi was attending the summit virtually instead of travelling to Malaysia to avoid “being cornered” by Mr Trump.

Taking to social media platform X, Congress communication chief Jairam Ramesh said it was “one thing to post messages in praise of President Trump, but far too risky to be physically seen with the man who has claimed 53 times that he stopped Operation Sindoor and that India has promised to stop buying oil from Russia”.

“The reason why Mr Modi is not going is simple. He just doesn’t want to be cornered by President Trump who will also be there. He refused an invitation to attend the Gaza peace summit in Egypt a few weeks back, precisely for this reason,” Mr Ramesh said.

“It’s far too risky for him. The PM may well be recalling that old hit Bollywood number: “Bachke rehna re baba, bachke rehna re,” he added.

In a separate post on X, Mr Ramesh reacted to a news report quoting a Reliance Industries spokesperson who said the company would recalibrate its import of Russian oil to align with the priorities of the Indian government. “Modi Proposes, Reliance Disp­oses, Trump Exposes,” he said.

“Had a warm conversation with my dear friend, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim of Malaysia. Congratulated him on Malaysia’s Asean Chairmanship and conveyed best wishes for the success of upcoming summits. Look forward to joining the Asean-India Summit virtually, and to further deepening the Asean-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership,” said Mr Modi in a statement.

In a statement posted on social media platform ‘X’, Mr Ibrahim said he discussed details of the 47th Asean summit with Mr Modi.

“He [Prime Minister Modi] informed me that he will attend virtually due to the ongoing Deepavali celebrations in India at that time. I respect his decision and extended my greetings for a happy Deepavali to him and the entire people of India.”

The East Asia Summit in Kuala Lumpur will draw a host of dignitaries, including President Trump. It was expected that the venue would provide a meeting opportunity for Mr Modi and Mr Trump, especially as the India-US relations remain uneasy after Mr Trump imposed punitive tariffs on India because of India’s purchase of Russian crude oil.

The Hindu said Mr Trump and Mr Modi exchanged greetings on Deepavali on Tuesday as India-US negotiations for a trade pact continue. The two sides, however, gave differing takes on the conversation.

It said President Trump was telling a group of prominent Indian-Americans and Indian Embassy officials in the White House that the telephone call focused on a trade deal, the purchase of Russian oil and “no war with Pakistan” and the Indian sources maintained that Pakistan was not discussed during the call.

Officials had earlier given mixed signals about Mr Modi’s travel plans for Kuala Lumpur, saying that the Bihar election campaign required the PM’s attention. Earlier, President Trump had invited Mr Modi to the Sharm el-Sheikh peace summit for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, but India was represented at the event by Kirti Vardhan Singh, Minister of State for External Affairs.

Published in Dawn, October 25th, 2025