Trump ‘cancels’ plans to visit India for November Quad meeting: Report

US President Donald Trump “no longer has plans” to visit India later this year for the Quad Summit, according to The New York Times, which outlined how relations between him and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have “unravelled” over recent months, The Economic Times reports.

In a report titled “The Nobel Prize and a Testy Phone Call: How the Trump-Modi Relationship Unraveled”, the NYT cited sources familiar with Trump’s schedule, saying: “After telling Mr Modi that he would travel to India later this year for the Quad summit, Mr Trump no longer has plans to visit in the fall.”

Neither the US nor Indian officials have issued an official comment on the NYT’s report, according to the Economic Times.

India is scheduled to host leaders of Australia, Japan, and the US for the Quad Summit in New Delhi around November. The Trump administration had previously hosted the Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in January, a day after Trump took the oath for a second presidential term.

The NYT article suggests that tensions between Trump and Modi escalated amid trade frictions and the US leader’s repeated claims of having “solved” the four-day conflict in May between India and Pakistan -- claims India denied.

“President Trump’s repeated claims about having ‘solved’ the India-Pakistan war infuriated Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India. And that was only the beginning,” the NYT reported, adding that Modi was “losing patience” with Trump.

Modi and Trump had planned to meet on the sidelines of the G7 Leaders’ Summit in Kananaskis, Canada, but Trump returned to Washington early. Before leaving Canada, Modi held a phone conversation with Trump in Washington to clarify India’s position following Operation Sindoor.

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said Modi conveyed that at “no point” during the days after the operation was there any discussion on an India-US trade deal or a US-mediated ceasefire between India and Pakistan. The ceasefire had been agreed directly between the two countries through established military communication channels, initiated at Pakistan’s request.

Modi reportedly made it clear that India does not, and will not, accept external mediation.

According to people familiar with the call, Trump appeared to suggest Modi should nominate him for a Nobel Prize, a proposal the Indian leader “bristled” at.

Modi reiterated that US involvement had nothing to do with the ceasefire, which had been settled solely between India and Pakistan.

The Economic Times cited the NYT report that Trump largely brushed off Modi’s comments, but the disagreement -- and Modi’s refusal to engage on the Nobel matter -- played a significant role in the deterioration of relations between the two leaders, whose rapport dated back to Trump’s first term.

The White House did not acknowledge the Jun 17 call, and Trump did not reference it on social media, despite repeatedly claiming over 40 times since May 10 that he had helped end the conflict.

The NYT described the episode as illustrating an American president with his sights on a Nobel Prize running into the “immovable third rail” of Indian politics: the Pakistan conflict.

The report also noted that Trump imposed additional 25 per cent tariffs on India for its purchases of Russian oil.

Analysts, including Richard Rossow of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, suggested the penalties appeared more punitive than part of a cohesive effort to reduce the trade deficit or pressure Russia.

Trump reportedly reached out to Modi multiple times to discuss the tariffs, but the Indian leader did not respond, straining bilateral relations even more.