New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet US President Donald Trump in France on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Evian next week, the White House said on Saturday.
Modi has already left
for a week-long tour of France and Slovakia.
The Indian PM’s meeting with Trump, possibly on June 17, will take place at a time when bilateral ties have come under pressure over recent strikes by US navy on three oil tankers carrying Indian sailors, off the Omani Coast. In one of those attacks, three Indians on board a Palau-flagged tanker were killed.
New Delhi lodged a strong protest with Washington and summoned the US Charge d’Affaires twice this week.
Ministry of External Affairs S Jaishankar then called US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to convey India’s resentment. Rubio, for his part, told Jaishankar that all vessels must immediately comply with orders of US forces in and around the Strait of Hormuz, and no violation of US blockade will be tolerated.
The G7 Summit will be held in Evian, France, from June 15 to 17.