Modi to Skip Asean Summit in Malaysia, Anwar Says

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi will skip a regional leaders summit in Kuala Lumpur, missing out on a possible meeting with US President Donald Trump.

(Bloomberg) -- India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi will skip a regional leaders summit in Kuala Lumpur, missing out on a possible meeting with US President Donald Trump.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister of Malaysia Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Brazil. (PTI)

Modi called Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to inform him he’ll attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit virtually, Anwar said in a Facebook post Thursday.

“He announced that he would attend online given the Deepavali celebrations that are still being celebrated in India at that time,” Anwar said.

India and the US have been locked in a trade dispute after Trump slapped 50% tariffs on the South Asian nation’s exports, partly to penalize the country for buying oil from Russia. Trump said Tuesday he spoke with Modi, who assured him that India would cut Russian energy purchases. New Delhi hasn’t confirmed it would comply with Trump’s demands.