Quad summit in India unlikely despite Trump’s claim of PM invite

Despite US President Donald Trump’s claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi “wants” him to visit India, the Quad Leaders’ Summit, which New Delhi was scheduled to host in 2025, is unlikely to take place.

Sources said Trump’s remarks about his India visit do not imply that the Quad summit will be held as planned. The meeting was expected to bring together Trump, Modi and the Prime Ministers of Japan and Australia — Sanae Takaichi and Anthony Albanese, respectively.

The Quad, which focuses on strategic cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, is widely viewed as a counterweight to China. Its coordination spans economic initiatives, infrastructure projects and military engagements, including the Malabar naval exercise, to be conducted among the navies of the four countries later this month.

With India-US relations at a two-decade low, New Delhi is reassessing its diplomatic approach, especially after Trump described his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping as a “G-2” summit. Trade ties have also been strained — Indian exports to the US fell by 37 per cent between May and September 2025, dropping from $8.8 billion in the same period last year to $5.5 billion this year.

India currently faces a 50 per cent US tariff on certain goods, including a 25 per cent “reciprocal” tariff and an additional 25 per cent punitive tariff imposed over India’s continued import of Russian crude oil. China, which imports around three million barrels of Russian crude daily, faces no such sanctions.

The two countries have also disagreed on geopolitical issues, including Trump’s repeated assertions that he resolved the India-Pakistan dispute — a claim India has consistently rejected.

Asked about Trump’s latest comments, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Friday, “I do not have anything to share on that at this point. I will let you know when I have something to share.”

New Delhi has also taken note of the outcome of the Trump-Xi meeting in Busan, South Korea, on October 30. The meeting, which Trump described as a “G-2” engagement, marks a significant departure from two decades of US policy that viewed China as an adversary or challenger. The shift poses a challenge for India’s strategic calculus, which has partly relied on Washington’s efforts to counter Chinese dominance in Asia through the Quad and the broader Indo-Pacific framework.

India was initially scheduled to host the Quad Leaders’ Summit in 2024, but at the US’s request, it was held instead in Wilmington, Delaware — former President Joe Biden’s hometown.