Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Donald Trump hold a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G7 Summit 2026, in Evian.
| Photo Credit: ANI
Indian officials followed the "standard practice" of checking the modalities for public appearances by Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G7 summit in France earlier this year, official sources said on Monday (August 24, 2026), hours after U.S. Ambassador Sergio Gor claimed that the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had asked for the press event not to feature questions. Mr. Gor went on to say that Mr. Trump subsequently forgot about the purported request and went on to answer questions from journalists for 45 minutes.“Discussions regarding arrangements for public appearances of leaders are normal practice ahead of any VVIP visit. In this regard, the Indian side communicated its standard practice for such visits,” a source said, referring to the interaction between Mr. Modi and Mr. Trump in Evian, France, on June 17, 2026.Addressing a media conclave on Sunday (August 23), Mr. Gor had said that the MEA had an “ask” regarding making the meeting between the two leaders free of questions from the press. “We were behind the scenes, behind the stage, and at one point, it was just the President and I, and he asked me what the Indians were going to raise. We went over some topics,” said Mr. Gor.According to Mr. Gor, Mr. Trump also wanted to know if the Indian delegation had any specific requests regarding the conduct of the event and he was told that the Indian side would prefer not to take questions.“He said, ‘Do they have any asks?’ And the MEA had one ask,” Mr. Gor said. Mr. Trump, however, forgot about the Indian side’s “ask”, Mr. Gor claimed, and proceeded to answer questions. “A 45-minute press conference followed, and everything was on the table,” he said.Official sources, however, pointed out that during the press interaction, all questions, both from U.S. and Indian presspersons, were aimed at Mr. Trump and that Mr. Modi was not asked any questions. Published - August 24, 2026 10:16 pm IST
