- Indian officials believed Trump would repeat the ceasefire between Pakistan and India.
- The United States imposed a 50% tariff on Indian exports for the purchase of Russian oil.
- Pakistan openly gave credit to US President Trump for the ceasefire.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided not to personally attend the Asean summit in Malaysia to avoid a possible discussion over Pakistan with US President Donald Trump. Bloomberg reported.
Modi had decided not to travel to Kuala Lumpur for the regional leaders’ summit and had opted to address the meeting virtually.
“Government officials feared that Trump would repeat his claim that he had brokered a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, something India has consistently denied,” says a report published by Bloomberg read.
Modi was reportedly unwilling to meet Trump fearing it could prove “embarrassing” for the Indian prime minister amid upcoming state elections in Bihar.
It is noteworthy that this was not the first instance of Modi skipping a possible meeting with Trump. He had also avoided attending the United Nations General Assembly session the previous month.
Relations between India and the United States have deteriorated since the Pakistan conflict five months ago. In August, Trump imposed a 50% tariff on Indian exports, with half of the tariff serving as a penalty for India’s purchase of Russian oil. Since then, trade negotiations have been underway, but there is still no clear sign of a deal.
Trump had repeatedly said his intervention prevented a “bad nuclear war” between Pakistan and India in May this year.
“We stopped a nuclear conflict. I think it could have been a bad nuclear war, millions of people could have died. So I’m very proud of that,” Trump told reporters at the White House days after Pakistan and India agreed to the ceasefire.
Last week, the US president said he had told Modi that there should be no war with Pakistan, and stressed that he had helped avoid several conflicts through diplomacy and trade pressure.
In May, Pakistan and India engaged in a military standoff, the worst between the old enemies in decades, which was sparked by a terror attack on tourists in the Pahalgam area of IIOJK, which New Delhi said was backed by Pakistan.
Islamabad denied involvement in the Kashmir attack, which killed 26 men and was the worst attack on civilians in India since the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
Following the incident, India killed several innocent civilians in unprovoked attacks on Pakistan for three days before the Pakistan Armed Forces retaliated in defense with the successful Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos.
Pakistan shot down seven IAF fighter jets, including the Rafale, and dozens of drones. After at least 87 hours, the war between the two nuclear-armed nations ended on May 10 with a US-brokered ceasefire agreement.
Pakistan has always credited Trump for achieving a ceasefire and even nominated him for the Nobel Prize.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has described Trump as a “true man of peace”, saying the US president worked “relentlessly and tirelessly” to end global conflicts, including the war in Gaza.
Meanwhile, the US President praised Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir and Prime Minister Shehbaz, calling them “great people”.
