Web Desk— October 29, 2025
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has opted out of in-person attendance at the ASEAN Summit in Malaysia, reportedly to avoid a potential public embarrassment from US President Donald Trump revisiting the downing of a Rafale jet during the May 2025 India-Pakistan conflict.
Bloomberg reports, citing sources close to Modi, that the Indian leader feared Trump would again boast about brokering the ceasefire while highlighting the loss of the French-made fighter — a sensitive issue amid ongoing Bihar elections.
Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi seized the moment, stating, “Modi is afraid of Trump.”
This marks Modi’s first physical absence from an ASEAN-India Summit since 2014, except for 2022. He delivered a virtual address instead, while Foreign Minister S Jaishankar met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the sidelines.
Rubio clarified: “US relations with Pakistan are not at the expense of India.”
Last week’s phone call between Trump and Modi reportedly yielded no significant gains for New Delhi, further reducing expectations of a fruitful in-person meeting.
Trump has repeatedly claimed he prevented a nuclear war between the two nations and suggested he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize.
With domestic polls in focus, Modi’s team saw little upside — and high downside — in risking a viral Trump quip.
