India’s balancing act between the Quad and BRICS will come to the fore at the upcoming Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Kuala Lumpur from October 26-28, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to attend the East Asia Summit (EAS) along with U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese Premier Li Qiang.
Leaders or representatives of China, Russia, Japan, India, Australia, and New Zealand are expected at the EAS, while Brazil President Lula da Silva and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will attend as observers at the ASEAN-related summits. This means Mr. Modi will have the chance to meet all counterparts from the Quad and key founder members of BRICS as well, as India prepares to host both summits in the next year, if he does travel to Kuala Lumpur this week. While the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has not so far confirmed Mr. Modi’s participation, Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan announced last week that he would attend the ASEAN-related summits, including the EAS, and government officials said Mr. Modi was “likely” to attend.
