International News
PM Modi likely to skip ASEAN Summit in Malaysia; EAM Jaishankar may represent India
New Delhi, Oct 23: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to skip the upcoming ASEAN Summit in Malaysia, starting from Sunday due to scheduling issues, sources said, adding that External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar will represent India at the summit.
The ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) summit will be held in Kuala Lumpur from October 26 to 28.
There is no official confirmation yet on India’s level of participation at the deliberations related to the summit.
Sources said that India is reported to have conveyed to Malaysia that EAM Jaishankar will represent India at the ASEAN meetings.
There is a possibility of PM Modi’s participation through virtual mode at the ASEAN-India summit.
Since 2014, Prime Minister Modi has skipped only one East Asia Summit (EAS) — the 17th edition held in November 2022 in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh.
With barely a few days left for the 20th EAS in Kuala Lumpur (October 26), the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) was non-committal on Tuesday on whether the PM would attend the AEAN summit as well as the EAS.
Malaysian government representatives and its media, however, have said that PM Modi would be one of the world leaders attending the EAS, along with US President Donald Trump, Chinese Premier Li Qiang and several others.
The Prime Minister has led the Indian delegations at the ASEAN-India summit and the East Asia Summit in the last few years.
The 10-member countries of ASEAN are Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia.
The two-way relations between India and ASEAN have been on a significant upswing in the last few years with focus being on boosting cooperation in the areas of trade and investment as well as security and defence.
According to the initial plan, a visit by PM Modi to Cambodia along with Malaysia was being contemplated.
However, as PM Modi is not travelling to Malaysia, the planned trip to Cambodia stands postponed, sources said.
Malaysia has invited US President Donald Trump as well as leaders of several countries which are the dialogue partners of the ASEAN.
Trump is set to travel to Kuala Lumpur on October 26 on a two-day visit.
The ASEAN-India dialogue relations started with the establishment of a sectoral partnership in 1992. This graduated to full dialogue partnership in December 1995 and summit-level partnership in 2002.
The ties were elevated to a strategic partnership in 2012.
The PM attended the ninth EAS, his first as India’s Prime Minister, in Myanmar in November 2014. He attended the subsequent EAS in November 2015 in Malaysia, the 11th EAS in Laos in September 2016, the 12th EAS in the Philippines in November 2017, the 13th in Singapore in November 2018 and the 14th in Thailand in November 2019.
The 16th and 17th EAS were held online with Vietnam and Brunei as the host countries in 2020 and 2021, respectively.
PM Modi attended the next two summits that took place in September 2023 and October 2024, in Indonesia and Laos, respectively.
International News
PM Modi, Egyptian President El-Sisi hold talks on sidelines of BRICS Summit

New Delhi, Sep 13: Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on the sidelines of the 18th BRICS Summit here on Sunday.
Earlier in the day, President El-Sisi and PM Modi joined leaders of BRICS member and partner countries, outreach invitees and heads of international organisations for a family photo in New Delhi.
PM Modi welcomed the leaders of the expanded BRICS grouping as they arrived for the second day of the BRICS Summit at the Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi on Sunday.
President El-Sisi, several leaders and representatives of nations attended the gala dinner hosted by PM Modi for BRICS leaders at Bharat Mandapam on Saturday evening.
On Saturday, the leaders of 11 BRICS member countries unanimously adopted the ‘New Delhi Declaration’. The declaration commended India for hosting the Outreach/BRICS Plus Dialogue segment of the 18th BRICS Summit, asserting that India’s chairship has injected “new impetus” to strengthen international cooperation and solidarity.
The leaders of BRICS countries reaffirmed their commitment to the BRICS spirit of mutual respect and understanding, sovereign equality, solidarity, democracy, openness, inclusiveness, collaboration and consensus.
India’s BRICS Chairship is guided by the theme: “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”, reflecting PM Modi’s vision of a people-centric approach rooted in the spirit of “Humanity First.”
BRICS comprises Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates. The partner countries are: Belarus, Cuba, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.
President El-Sisi arrived in New Delhi on Friday to attend the 18th BRICS Summit. He was warmly received at the airport by the Minister of State (MoS) for Defence Sanjay Seth.
“Warmly welcome the President of Egypt, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, to the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi. He was received by MoS Sanjay Seth at the airport. India and Egypt share deep bonds of friendship, as we work together to build a stronger BRICS partnership,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated on X.
International News
Iran, Oman agree on details of Hormuz Strait’s new entry, exit routes

Tehran/Doha, Sep 13: Iran and Oman have agreed on the details of new entry and exit routes for the Strait of Hormuz and will brief Gulf countries on the outcome of their consultations at a regional meeting in Muscat on Monday, Iranian officials said.
Citing a source close to Iran’s negotiating team, the semi-official Tasnim news agency said that the understanding was reached after “intensive technical and diplomatic talks between Iran and Oman, which culminated in a final agreement in late August.”
Under the understanding, the Gulf’s entry route “lies entirely within Iran’s territorial waters,” and a portion of the exit route also falls “within Iranian territorial waters,” the source said.
The source stressed that the route would operate under Iranian arrangements and the waterway’s southern route will be closed once the new system becomes operational, noting that the United States had insisted that the southern route must be opened.
“The understanding in no way means that the Strait of Hormuz will be opened,” the source said, adding that Iran has seven conditions for reopening the waterway and has conveyed them to the United States.
The source underlined that the waterway will remain closed unless those conditions are implemented, with reopening depending entirely on the US behavior, Xinhua news agency reported.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei announced on Friday that Gulf littoral states’ foreign ministers are scheduled to meet in Oman on Monday to exchange views on regional issues, including the Iran-Oman talks on designating safe routes in the Strait of Hormuz.
Speaking to media on Saturday, Baghaei said the gathering would “hopefully” be attended by foreign ministers from Gulf states as well as Iran and Iraq.
“As part of the agenda, we are going to brief the delegations about the results of the Iran and Oman consultations regarding the safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz,” he said, adding that the two countries had conducted the consultations as “the two coastal states of the Strait of Hormuz.”
Late last month, Iran and Oman said in a joint statement that they had exchanged views on a proposed phased framework that includes establishing a temporary joint shipping corridor in the strait.
Following US-Israeli strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, Tehran restricted passage through the strategic waterway, while US forces imposed a naval blockade targeting vessels traveling to or from Iranian ports.
The Strait of Hormuz, linking the Gulf with the Arabian Sea, is one of the world’s most important routes for oil and gas shipments. Oman and Iran sit on opposite sides of the strait and have maintained consultations over maritime security and navigation in the strategic waterway.
International News
Chinese President Xi Jinping departs from Delhi after attending BRICS Summit

New Delhi, Sep 13: Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday departed from New Delhi after attending the 18th BRICS Summit hosted by India.
Xi Jinping participated in the two-day BRICS Summit at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi. He joined leaders of BRICS member countries in a joint tree plantation drive in New Delhi. Xi and leaders of other BRICS member countries visited Bharat Innovates Exposition at Bharat Mandapam.
During his visit to India, Xi also held a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, where the two leaders emphasised that “differences should not become disputes” and reaffirmed that both countries should take a strategic and long-term perspective of their ties.
“The two leaders welcomed the steady progress in India-China bilateral relations since their last meeting in Tianjin in August 2025. They reaffirmed that both countries should take a strategic and long term perspective of their ties. Differences should not become disputes. Prime Minister highlighted that both sides must be guided by three mutuals- mutual respect, mutual sensitivity and mutual interest,” read a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) after the meeting.
During the meeting, PM Modi stressed that peace and tranquillity in the border areas remain an essential basis for the continued development of bilateral relations.
“He underlined the need for both sides to observe existing agreements and understandings on border-related issues. The two leaders expressed commitment to a fair, reasonable, and mutually acceptable resolution of the boundary question proceeding from the political perspective of their overall bilateral relations and the long-term interests of the two peoples,” the MEA statement added.
Both leaders also took note of the progress in people-to-people ties and underscored the need to further promote cultural exchanges, business linkages and greater mobility between the two countries.
“On economic and trade relations, they underlined the need to address each other’s concerns, including structural trade imbalance and supply chain issues, and facilitation of meaningful and predictable market access,” the statement read further.
According to the MEA, the two leaders agreed that both sides must continue to expand common ground on regional and global issues, and in addressing challenges.
“Prime Minister appreciated China’s support for India’s BRICS chairship and its contributions towards the success of the BRICS Summit-2026,” it concluded.
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