Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit Malaysia for the ASEAN summit meetings starting on October 26 due to scheduling issues. Instead, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will represent India at the event, according to PTI. While there was no official announcement on India’s level of participation in the summit’s discussions, its sources indicated that India had informed Malaysia that Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar would attend the ASEAN meetings on its behalf. However, there is also a possibility that Prime Minister Modi may virtually join the ASEAN-India Summit. The government is currently concentrating on the upcoming state assembly elections in Bihar and Prime Minister Modi is also expected to participate in Chhath Puja celebrations next week, according to the Hindustan Times sources. About ASEAN Summit The ASEAN Summit (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) is scheduled to take place from 26 to 28 October in Kuala Lumpur. In recent years, the Prime Minister has led the Indian delegations at both the ASEAN-India Summit and the East Asia Summit. Malaysia extended invitations to US President Donald Trump and leaders of several ASEAN dialogue partner countries. Trump is scheduled to visit Kuala Lumpur on October 26 for a two-day trip. India’s dialogue relations with ASEAN began in 1992 with a sectoral partnership, which was upgraded to a full dialogue partnership in December 1995 and further elevated to the apex level in 2002. The relationship was transformed into a strategic partnership in 2012. ASEAN’s ten member countries consist of Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Thailand, La Brunei, La Philippines, La Brunei and Cambodia. (This is a developing story. More to come)
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