PM skips Trump's invite: How India ensured Modi didn’t share a White House day with Pak army chief

India appears to have deftly sidestepped an awkward diplomatic moment in Washington by turning down US President Donald Trump’s invitation for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make a brief stopover in the US capital.

The invitation came just a day before Trump was set to host Pakistan Army chief General Asim Munir for a formal lunch at the White House, i.e. today – a juxtaposition New Delhi was keen to avoid.

According to official announcements, Trump is scheduled to host Pakistan’s Field Marshal Asim Munir in the White House Cabinet Room on Wednesday at 1 pm ET. The day before, while PM Modi was still in Canada following the G7 Summit, Trump had extended an invitation for a quick meeting in Washington. PM Modi, however, politely declined, citing a pre-planned visit to Croatia, and left Canada by 6 pm local time on Tuesday.

Had PM Modi accepted the offer, the timeline would have placed him in Washington by early Wednesday morning, making a breakfast or early meeting with Trump a likely scenario — only to be followed a few hours later by the Pakistan army chief’s White House luncheon. Such optics, with Trump meeting both India’s elected Prime Minister and Pakistan’s unelected military ruler on the same day, would have been diplomatically unpalatable for New Delhi.

India has long worked to de-hyphenate itself from Pakistan in international diplomacy. One of the key principles of this approach is to avoid scenarios where foreign leaders or forums place India and Pakistan on the same diplomatic pedestal — a contrast that New Delhi sees as reductive, especially when comparing a vibrant democracy with a military-dominated state.

Moreover, New Delhi has strategic reasons to wait before any fresh engagement with President Trump. PM Modi had already visited the US earlier this year to congratulate Trump following his return to office. With the next QUAD Summit expected soon, which could bring Trump to India, New Delhi would prefer that the next high-level engagement takes place on Indian soil, reaffirming India’s status as a key Indo-Pacific partner.

During their recent phone call, PM Modi reportedly spoke candidly to President Trump. He is said to have reiterated that the US did not play any mediatory role between India and Pakistan and how Islamabad fomented terror.

Reports indicate that Trump’s meeting with Munir is not expected to focus heavily on India. Given the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict, the US administration’s current priority is Pakistan’s positioning on Middle East issues, not South Asia. While Trump may bring up counterterrorism or regional stability in a broad sense, the India-Pakistan equation is unlikely to take centre stage.