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PM Modi meeting Trump or Harris was never on his itinerary

Donald Trump's claim of meeting PM Modi caught the PMO and MEA by surprise as the Indian leader had sought no meeting with either Trump or Harris.

Updated on: Sept 24, 2024 12:04 pm IST
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New Delhi: Even though Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was meeting him in New York during his three day US visit, the Indian leader never had meetings with either Trump or Democrat Presidential candidate Kamala Harris on his agenda. PM Modi is on his way back home after attending the QUAD summit and speaking at “Future of UN” summit.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with US President Joe Biden.

While pro-Democrat media has tried to make this into ‘PM Modi snubs Trump campaign’, the fact is that Trump's claim of meeting Modi caught the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of External Affairs by surprise as the Indian leader had sought no meeting with either Trump or Vice President Harris.

“India is absolutely comfortable with either Democrats or Republicans coming to power. This is a bipartisan relationship since the time of Bill Clinton and the two countries are constantly in touch with each other with deep convergence on bilateral issues. PM Modi has no desire to promote one candidate against the other as this would be construed as election interference in a poll bound country,” said a former foreign secretary. The Indian response was totally opposite from behavior of US diplomats who landed in Srinagar to meet Opposition party leadership in the poll bound UT.

While External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will take up the disrespect shown by rabid Khalistanis to Indian flag and leadership during PM Modi visit when he visits Washington after addressing UNGA on September 26, the Indian national security planners are not at all perturbed by these legal threats and it is business as usual.

The Modi government is clear that India’s rise will be contested by all powers including those who are called strategic partners, but New Delhi is not cowed down by few rabid protestors and will respond in kind at time and place of its choosing.

 
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shishir Gupta

Author of Indian Mujahideen: The Enemy Within (2011, Hachette) and Himalayan Face-off: Chinese Assertion and Indian Riposte (2014, Hachette). Awarded K Subrahmanyam Prize for Strategic Studies in 2015 by Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA) and the 2011 Ben Gurion Prize by Israel.

Check India news real-time updates, latest news from India and RBSE Rajasthan 12th Result 2026, latest at HindustanTime
Check India news real-time updates, latest news from India and RBSE Rajasthan 12th Result 2026, latest at HindustanTime
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