NEW DELHI: The government on Monday said discussions about arrangements for a leader’s public appearance are a “normal practice,” clarifying the context of US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor’s remarks regarding the bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump in June.“Discussions regarding arrangements for public appearances of leaders are normal practice ahead of any VVIP visit, and in this regard, the Indian side had communicated its standard practice for such visits,” government sources told ANI.The clarification followed statements by Gor at the Economic Times World Leaders Forum on Saturday, where he stated that India had “specifically requested” the US administration not to take questions from the media following the bilateral interaction between PM Modi and President Trump on the sidelines of the G7 summit in France.According to Gor, although Trump initially agreed to the request, he subsequently opened the floor to reporters, turning the session into a 45-minute press conference with PM Modi sitting alongside him.Recalling the sequence of events, Gor described his “brief conversation” with Trump before the bilateral meeting with PM Modi.“We were behind the scenes, behind the stage, and at one point it was just the president and I, and he asked me, he goes, ‘What the Indians are going to raise?’ We went over some topics,” Gor recounted.“And he (Trump) said, ‘Do they have any asks?’ And the MEA had one ask. He said, and it was, ‘Let’s bring in the media, but let’s not do a full press conference,’” the ambassador added.He noted that he directly conveyed the Indian side’s preference to Trump.“I told the president, I said, the Indians prefer no questions. He said, ‘Sure, no problem’,” Gor recalled.The interaction subsequently began with media personnel and technical crews present in the room. Gor noted that about 50 cameras were set up as PM Modi and Trump sat across from each other to deliver their opening statements.“So the meeting starts, the press comes in, there must have been 50 cameras, the president is sitting here, the prime minister is sitting there, they both speak for a few minutes,” he recalled.
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However, immediately after the opening statements, Trump turned to the assembled reporters and asked, “Any questions?”“And that opened everything up,” the ambassador recalled, describing the interaction as turning into “a 45-minute press conference” where “everything was on the table.”The bilateral meeting on June 17 came days after three Indian mariners were killed in an attack by the US Navy on a commercial vessel in the Strait of Hormuz.The safety and protection of Indian seafarers navigating the region were among the key issues raised by PM Modi during the exchange.The June visit proved significant as New Delhi and Washington worked towards finalising a bilateral trade agreement amid continuing tensions in West Asia that affected maritime shipping and global energy supplies.Trump also observed during the interaction that the two nations were “very close” to concluding the trade deal.
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