New Delhi : As world leaders gather in Egypt today to finalise the framework for the US-brokered Gaza peace plan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will stay away. Despite a personal invitation from El-Sisi, PM Modi’s decision to skip has set off speculation about why he’s not attending the gathering in Sharm el-Sheikh where over 20 world leaders will meet to finalise the framework of a peace deal and discuss Gaza’s post-war reconstruction.
The most obvious factor that may have played a role in India’s decision is the fact that Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will be in attendance at the summit and New Delhi likely wants to avoid having PM Narendra Modi share a stage with him. India, in response, also suspended the Indus Waters Treaty and closed the Attari-Wagah checkpost, among other diplomatic measures against Pakistan.
PM Modi said India has suffered the brunt of terrorism” for four decades and, following the Pahalgam attack, it is natural to raise whether the open support of terrorism by some countries can be acceptable to us. We have to unanimously oppose terrorism in every form and colour. This is our duty towards humanity. In July, Sharif had extended an olive branch for “meaningful talks” with India, but it went unheeded.
The other factor would have been the likely risk of US President Donald Trump, who is co-chairing the summit, using it to once again repeat his claim that he brokered a ceasefire between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor. Indian diplomats would be wary of Trump pulling what he did with Armenia and Azerbijan recently — getting leaders of two hostile countries to pose for a photo op so that he can claim to have solved yet another conflict and further his Nobel Peace Prize ambitions.
India has urged the US to lift the levies, arguing that affordable energy is crucial for its 1.4 billion citizens and the impasse remains despite recent talks between the two sides. In recent days, the two leaders have engaged several times, including when PM Modi welcomed Trump’s 20-point peace deal to end the war in Gaza. The Prime Minister again dialled Trump, congratulating him on the success of the peace plan, while also reviewing the “good progress” in bilateral trade negotiations.
Despite the renewed bonhomie, Trump has again repeated his claims of ending the India-Pakistan conflict. Just two days before receiving the call from the Prime Minister, the President reiterated that his repeated threats of imposing sanctions had helped prevent several conflicts from escalating, including the one between India and Pakistan.
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