In a letter published on October 17, a group of US bipartisan lawmakers urged President Donald Trump to personally attend three major summits in the India-Pacific region this fall. They warned that his absence could create a strategic void, creating conditions for China to actively expand its influence in the region.
The lawmakers stressed that the India-Pacific region "lives up for US security and prosperity" and is the focus of "strategian competition" with China.
They called Trump's participation at the East Asia Summit in Malaysia, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in South Korea, and the Quadrupt Leaders' Summit in India "necessary to demonstrate US leadership and counter China's ambitions".
Trump's ability to attend these summits seems to have increased after he himself said he planned to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the APEC summit in South Korea.
However, the White House has not yet officially confirmed President Trump's plan to attend summits.
During his first term, he only attended meetings of the East Asia and ASEAN Summits once in 2017. In the following years, lower-level officials were sent to replace them. Observers see this as a clear signal that the US is reducing interest in the region.
While the possibility of attending APEC and the Southeast Asian Summit is possible, the trip to India for the Fourth Summit faces many obstacles. The conference has not yet been officially scheduled.
The White House may be making conditions for President Trump's visit. Specifically, the US is said to be pressuring, requiring India to commit to "specific results" in trade or investment for the new visit to take place.
Although trade talks between the two countries were resumed after collapsing in August, the prospect of a breakthrough is still very fragile.
The main bottleneck of the negotiations is still India's hesitation to open the agricultural market for US goods, because this is an extremely sensitive political issue for Prime Minister Modi's government.
In the letter, US lawmakers emphasized that the upcoming conferences are an important opportunity. According to them, this is an opportunity for the US to gather with allies and reaffirm its commitment to a free and open India-Pacific region, especially at important forums such as APEC and the Quartet.
