NEW YORK, Sunday, August 31, 2025 : US President Donald Trump has decided against traveling to India later this year for the Quad Summit, deepening the rift between Washington and New Delhi, according to a report published by The New York Times.
The summit of the Quad grouping—comprising the United States, India, Japan, and Australia—is scheduled to be held in New Delhi in November, focusing on Indo-Pacific security and cooperation.
Citing “people familiar with the president’s schedule,” the Times reported that despite earlier assurances to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Trump has “no plans to visit in the fall.” The White House has yet to issue an official statement on the matter.
The newspaper linked the growing tensions to Trump’s repeated claims that he personally brokered the ceasefire between India and Pakistan during their May conflict. While the US president insists he used trade leverage to end hostilities, India has rejected the assertion, maintaining that the truce was negotiated bilaterally with Islamabad.
The report also pointed to Trump’s campaign for a Nobel Peace Prize, with aides suggesting he views his self-proclaimed role in South Asian diplomacy as central to that ambition.
Adding to the strain, Modi signaled a warmer tone toward Beijing during a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin, China.
“We are committed to progressing our relations based on mutual respect, trust and sensitivities,” Modi said, in his first visit to China in seven years. His remarks came just days after Washington imposed steep tariffs on Indian goods.
The SCO gathering, attended by leaders from Pakistan, Central Asia, and the Middle East, has been described as a show of Global South solidarity, with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also present.
