US President Donald Trump has reportedly cancelled plans to visit India later this year for the upcoming Quad Summit, according to The New York Times, which cited sources familiar with his schedule.

The report, titled “The Nobel Prize and a Testy Phone Call: How the Trump-Modi Relationship Unravelled”, revealed that Trump had earlier told Prime Minister Narendra Modi he would attend the summit in the autumn but has since abandoned the visit.

No official comment has been issued by either the Indian or the US governments on the matter. India is scheduled to host the Quad Summit later this year. Previously, under Trump’s administration, the Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting was held in January, just a day after Trump began his second term as president.

The NYT piece traces growing tensions in the Trump-Modi relationship, especially in the wake of Trump’s repeated, and controversial, claims that he helped resolve a brief military conflict between India and Pakistan in May, assertions India has consistently denied.

“President Trump’s repeated claims about having ‘solved’ the India-Pakistan war infuriated Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India. And that was only the beginning,” the report states, adding that Modi was “losing patience” with Trump.

The report references a 35-minute phone conversation between the two leaders on 17 June, as Trump was returning from the G7 Summit in Canada. Although an in-person meeting had been planned on the sidelines of the summit in Kananaskis, Trump left early. Before departing, the two leaders spoke by phone.

India’s Foreign Secretary, Vikram Misri, stated in a video message from Kananaskis that Prime Minister Modi had clearly told Trump there was no discussion of a trade agreement or any proposal for US mediation in the India-Pakistan dispute.

“Prime Minister Modi firmly told Trump that India does not and will never accept any mediation in its conflict with Pakistan,” Misri said.

According to the NYT, during the 17 June call, Trump once again claimed credit for ending the India-Pakistan escalation and mentioned that Pakistan intended to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize, an award Trump has openly sought and which was previously won by former President Barack Obama.

“The not-so-subtle implication, according to people familiar with the call, was that Mr Modi should do the same,” the report added.

“The Indian leader bristled. He told Mr Trump that US involvement had nothing to do with the recent ceasefire. It had been settled directly between India and Pakistan,” the article stated.

Although Trump dismissed Modi’s objection during the call, the disagreement, particularly Modi’s refusal to support Trump’s Nobel aspirations, significantly strained a relationship that was once seen as strong during Trump’s first term.

The White House did not publicly acknowledge the call, and Trump made no mention of it on social media. Since 10 May, Trump has publicly claimed over 40 times that he was responsible for ending the India-Pakistan standoff.

“And it is also the tale of an American president with his eye on a Nobel Prize, running smack into the immovable third rail of Indian politics: the conflict with Pakistan,” the NYT article said.

Further fuelling the tension, the report noted Trump’s decision to impose a 25 per cent tariff on Indian imports of Russian oil. The move was described as more punitive than policy-based.

“The colossal penalties on India in particular appear to be punishment for not falling in line rather than any kind of cohesive effort to reduce the trade deficit or cut off funding for” Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war, the NYT reported.

Richard Rossow, chair in India studies at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, said the issue extended beyond India’s relationship with Russia.

“If this were a real change in policy in trying to squeeze Russia, Trump could have put his weight behind legislation that would have imposed secondary sanctions on countries that buy Russian hydrocarbons. The fact that they have uniquely targeted India says this is about more than just Russia,” Rossow was quoted as saying.

The article concluded by noting Trump’s mounting frustration over stalled tariff negotiations and reported that he attempted to reach out to Modi multiple times, but received no response from the Indian Prime Minister.