Prime Minister Modi is unlikely to travel to Malaysia for the ASEAN summit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is unlikely to travel to Malaysia to participate in the meetings related to the ASEAN summit starting Sunday (Oct 26, 2025) due to scheduling issues, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday (Oct 22, 2025).

It is learned that External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will represent India at the meetings.

The ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Summit will be held in Kuala Lumpur from October 26 to 28.

There has been no official word on the extent of India’s participation in the deliberations related to the summit.

The people mentioned above said that India has informed Malaysia that Mr. Jaishankar will represent India at the ASEAN meetings.

There is a possibility of Prime Minister Modi participating in the ASEAN-India summit through a virtual mode.

The Prime Minister has led Indian delegations at the ASEAN-India Summit and the East Asia Summit in recent years.

Malaysia has invited US President Donald Trump as well as leaders of several countries that are ASEAN’s dialogue partners. Trump will travel to Kuala Lumpur on October 26 for a two-day trip.

Dialogue relations between ASEAN and India began with the establishment of a Sector Partnership in 1992. This evolved into a Full Dialogue Partnership in December 1995 and a Summit Level Partnership in 2002.

In 2012, the ties were elevated to a strategic partnership.

The ten member states of ASEAN are Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia.

Mutual relations between India and ASEAN have seen a significant revival in recent years, with a focus on boosting cooperation in trade and investment, as well as security and defense.

As per the original plan, Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Cambodia was considered jointly with Malaysia. However, since he is not traveling to Malaysia, the planned trip to Cambodia has been postponed, the people cited above said.