New Delhi, Aug 24 (PTI) US President Donald Trump’s “unpredictable behaviour” toward many foreign leaders prompted the Indian side to adopt a cautious approach and prefer against holding a media interaction following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s talks with the American leader in France in June, government sources said on Monday.
The clarification came in response to public remarks by US envoy Sergio Gor, who said that New Delhi had informed the American side prior to the Modi-Trump meeting that it preferred not to hold a joint press briefing.
The sources emphasised that discussions regarding leaders’ public appearances are standard protocol and part of routine diplomatic practice.
Modi and Trump held bilateral talks on June 17 in Evian-les-Bains on the sidelines of the G7 summit. The meeting was widely viewed as a step forward in mending bilateral ties, which had faced severe strain over the preceding year.
The fresh controversy comes amid a growing perception of a lack of intensity in overall relations between the two sides, with the much-talked-about bilateral trade deal remaining in limbo.
In the course of an interactive session late last week, Gor, referring to friendship between Trump and Modi, brought up the the last in-person interaction between the two leaders at the French holiday resort town.
“We were behind the stage, and at one point it was just the president and I, and he asked me, ‘what are the Indians going to raise’? We went over some topics, and he said, ‘do they have any asks?’” The US envoy was speaking at the Economic Times World Leaders Forum.
Gor said the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had one “ask” and he told the president that the “Indians prefer no questions. He (Trump) said: ‘sure, no problem’”.
The US envoy suggested that the US president had forgotten the request and ended up taking many questions as the media interaction lasted for almost 45 minutes after the meeting with Modi.
“There must have been 50 cameras. The president sitting there, the prime minister sitting there. They both spoke for a few minutes. As soon as they get done, the first thing the president does, he looks up at the camera and says, ‘Any questions?”.
“And that opened everything up. And he did a 45-minute press conference, and everything was on the table,” Gor said.
The government sources said foreign delegations, while meeting the US president, are wary about his “unpredictable behaviour, as may be seen from his interactions with the presidents of South Africa and Ukraine.” “Thus, the cautious approach by India,” said one of them.
Another source said it was normal to have discussions on arrangements before public appearances of leaders.
“Discussions regarding arrangements for public appearances of leaders are normal practice ahead of any VVIP visit,” said the source.
“In this regard, the Indian side communicated its standard practice for such visits,” it added.
