New Delhi, Oct 23 (PTI) With Prime Minister Narendra Modi not travelling to Malaysia for the ASEAN summit and set to participate virtually, the Congress on Thursday claimed that the reason for the PM not going there was that he doesn't want to be cornered by US President Donald Trump.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said posting messages in praise of President Trump on social media is one thing, but to be seen hobnobbing physically with the man who has claimed 53 times that he stopped Operation Sindoor and also claimed five times that India has promised to stop buying oil from Russia is "far too risky" for the PM.

Prime Minister Modi is set to attend the summit virtually and has spoken with his Malaysian counterpart Anwar Ibrahim.

"For days the speculation has been - will He or won't He? Will Mr. Modi go to Kuala Lumpur for the Summit or not?" Ramesh said on X.

Now it appears certain that the PM will not go, he said.

It means the loss of so many opportunities to hug and get photo ops with world leaders or to flaunt himself as the "self-styled Vishwaguru", the Congress leader said.

"The reason why Mr. Modi is not going is simple. He just doesn't want to be cornered by President Trump who will also be there. He refused an invitation to attend the Gaza peace summit in Egypt a few weeks back, precisely for this reason," Ramesh said.

"Posting messages in praise of President Trump on social media is one thing. But to be seen hobnobbing physically with the man who has claimed 53 times that he stopped Op Sindoor and has claimed 5 times that India has promised to stop buying oil from Russia is another matter. It's far too risky for him," he said.

"The PM may well be recalling that old hit Bollywood number: Bachke rehna re baba, bachke rehna re," Ramesh said.

Modi is not physically travelling to Malaysia to participate in the meetings related to the ASEAN summit beginning Sunday due to scheduling issues, people familiar with the matter said.

The ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) summit will be held in Kuala Lumpur from October 26 to 28.

PM Modi will participate through virtual mode at the ASEAN-India summit.

In a post on X, Modi said, "Had a warm conversation with my dear friend, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim of Malaysia. Congratulated him on Malaysia's ASEAN Chairmanship and conveyed best wishes for the success of upcoming Summits. Look forward to joining the ASEAN-India Summit virtually, and to further deepening the ASEAN-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership." The prime minister has led the Indian delegations at the ASEAN-India summit and the East Asia Summit in the last few years.

Malaysia has invited Trump as well as leaders of several countries which are the dialogue partners of the ASEAN. Trump is set to travel to Kuala Lumpur on October 26 on a two-day trip.

The ASEAN-India dialogue relations started with the establishment of a sectoral partnership in 1992. This graduated to full dialogue partnership in December 1995 and summit level partnership in 2002. The ties were elevated to a strategic partnership in 2012.

The 10 member countries of ASEAN are Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia.

The two-way relations between India and ASEAN have been on a significant upswing in the last few years with focus being on boosting cooperation in the areas of trade and investment as well as security and defence.

Ramesh also shared on X videos of the recent remarks of Trump in which he reiterated his claims that India has agreed to "stop" buying oil from Russia and that he "helped settle" the recent military conflict between India and Pakistan.

Trump has reiterated his claim that India has agreed to "stop" buying oil from Russia and would bring them down to "almost nothing" by the end of the year.

However, he said, it is a process and will take some time.

Trump also said that he would try to persuade China to do the same. China and India are the two biggest buyers of Russian crude oil.

"India, as you know, has told me they are going to stop (buying Russian oil)... It's a process. You can’t just stop... By the end of the year, they'll be down to almost nothing, almost 40 per cent of the oil. India, they've been great. Spoke to Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi yesterday. They've been absolutely great," the president told reporters at White House on Wednesday.

Trump has been claiming for the past few days that India has assured him that it will significantly reduce its oil imports from Russia.

In his remarks at the White House, Trump also claimed tariffs have also helped prevent conflicts.

"I solved eight wars. Of the eight, five or six were because of tariffs," he said.

Repeating his claim that he helped stop the recent military conflict between India and Pakistan, Trump said he told the two countries, "If you want to fight, that’s okay. But you’re going to pay tariffs. Two days later, they called up and said they’re not going to fight anymore. They have peace.” Trump has been repeating his claim that he "helped settle" the recent military conflict between India and Pakistan. India has consistently maintained that the understanding on cessation of hostilities with Pakistan in May was reached following direct talks between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two militaries. PTI ASK ASK DV DV

Diplomatic distancing: Prime Minister to attend ASEAN summit virtually amid claims he avoids meeting US President. Prime Minister Modi will attend the ASEAN and ASEAN India summits virtually due to scheduling constraints; opposition leaders allege the decision reflects diplomatic distancing to avoid a physical encounter with a visiting former US president, citing political and reputational risk and circulating his public claims about India's energy purchases and regional mediation as supporting evidence.