PM Modi, President Donald Trump could meet in Davos

NEW DELHI: World Economic Forum in Davos later this month will give Prime Minister Modi and US President Donald Trump an opportunity to meet again, just three months after their meeting in Manila on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit last November.

While there has been no formal announcement, a possibility cannot be ruled out, given the growing strategic convergence between the two sides. During their last meeting in Manila, Modi and Trump had decided to ramp up military ties. Both sides are hopeful of a meeting on January 22, indicated three persons familiar with the development. The meeting could either be a standalone bilateral one or a pull aside.

The meeting could be significant against the backdrop of the US decision to freeze security aid to Pakistan. The US move was viewed as a shot in the arm for India, which has been maintaining, for long, that counter-terror military aid provided to Islamabad is used against New Delhi. Also, the US decision not to tweak H-1B visa regulations has also come as a breather to India.

Modi will travel to Switzerland on January 22 on a two-day visit, during which he will deliver the keynote address at the WEF plenary session in Davos.

This will be the first visit by an Indian prime minister to the World Economic Forum in Davos after then prime minister Deve Gowda went there in 1997. Also, the late PV Narasimha Rao had visited Davos in 1994 as the prime minister.

Donald Trump wi l l be the first US President in 20 years to attend WEF. In fact, Trump would be the first sitting US president to attend the summit since Bill Clinton in 2000. Trump may also use the visit to reach out to Europe amid lukewarm transatlantic ties.