Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the ASEAN-India summit virtually. Let us tell you that he shared the details of his conversation with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Thursday.
In a post on Twitter, PM Modi said, “Had a warm conversation with my dear friend, Prime Minister of Malaysia Anwar Ibrahim. Congratulated him on Malaysia’s assumption of the ASEAN Chairmanship and best wishes for the success of the upcoming summits.”
“Look forward to joining the ASEAN-India Summit virtually and further deepening the ASEAN-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership,” he said.
Confirming this, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Wednesday that PM Modi will not go to Kuala Lumpur for the 47th ASEAN Summit, but will attend it through virtual medium.
“We discussed the convening of the 47th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur later this month. He told me that he would be attending it virtually due to the ongoing Diwali celebrations in India at that time,” Ibrahim said.
He said, “I respect his decision and wish him and the people of entire India a very happy Diwali.”
Giving details of his recent conversation with an aide of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Ibrahim highlighted efforts to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries.
Anwar said, “Last night I received a call from an aide to the Prime Minister of the Republic of India, Narendra Modi, to discuss efforts to strengthen Malaysia-India bilateral relations to a more strategic and comprehensive level. India remains an important partner of Malaysia in the areas of trade and investment. Additionally, we also have close cooperation in the areas of technology, education and regional security.”
He concluded his speech by reaffirming Malaysia’s commitment to bilateral and regional cooperation.
“Malaysia will remain committed to strengthening Malaysia-India relations and further enhancing ASEAN-India cooperation for a more peaceful and prosperous region,” he said.
Meanwhile, United States President Donald Trump on Wednesday (local time) announced his upcoming diplomatic visit to Malaysia, South Korea and Japan, highlighted by an important meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea.
Trump also revealed that he canceled a planned summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, citing a lack of progress in diplomatic efforts. “It didn’t seem right to me,” Trump said. He further said that he did not want a “pointless meeting”.
Talking about his trip, Trump said, “Next week we’ll be going to Malaysia, South Korea and Japan. In South Korea, I’ll be meeting with President Xi Jinping of China. We have a long meeting scheduled. Together we can address many of our questions, our doubts, and our tremendous potential. We canceled the meeting with President Putin. I didn’t feel right about that. I didn’t think we could get to that point.” That’s where we needed to get to, so I canceled it.”
The cancellation of the Putin summit comes after Russia rejected Trump’s proposed ceasefire plan in Ukraine.
Trump is optimistic about his upcoming meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping and hopes to be able to leverage their talks to end the Russia-Ukraine war. He plans to discuss energy and oil with Xi Jinping, aiming to pressure Russia into a peace deal.
