Citing US President Donald Trump’s “unpredictable behaviour” when meeting foreign leaders, government sources on Monday said India, therefore, adopted a “cautious approach” when Prime Minister Narendra Modi met him in France in June this year.The clarification came in response to US Ambassador Sergio Gor’s public remarks that the Indian side had asked the US administration to “not do a full press conference, no questions” after the meeting between the two leaders. Trump, however, disregarded this request and took questions from the media.Facing criticism from the Opposition, government sources said: “Discussions regarding arrangements for public appearances of leaders are normal practice ahead of any VVIP visit. In this regard, the Indian side communicated its standard practice for such visits… Delegations when meeting the US President are wary about his unpredictable behaviour, as may be seen from his interactions with the President of South Africa, Ukraine etc. Thus, the cautious approach by India.”Read | Sergio Gor says J&K ‘important part of India’; Pakistan summons US diplomatAt a televised meeting in February last year, Trump and Vice President J D Vance had engaged in a heated argument with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In May last year, Trump also sought to corner South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on the alleged discrimination against White farmers.Modi has rarely addressed press conferences with foreign leaders — Trump and former British Prime Minister David Cameron are among the few exceptions. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has rebranded the joint media interactions as “media appearances” and “media statements”.This has not gone down well in the western media; in May this year, a Norwegian journalist questioned MEA officials on this during Modi’s visit to Oslo for the India-Nordic summit.Explained | Sergio Gor’s remark, Pakistan’s protest, and the changing US stance on KashmirSpeaking at the Economic Times World Leaders Forum on Saturday, US Ambassador Gor said, “The fact that our President and Prime Minister Modi have such a deep and personal friendship makes it a lot easier for me frankly. It is one of those things that you may have seen. I travelled with President Trump to G7 two months ago in Evian and they brought in the cameras.”Story continues below this adHe was referring to the meeting between Modi and Trump on June 17, on the sidelines of the G7 leaders summit — their first since Op Sindoor last year. The meeting was highly anticipated as there was frostiness in the ties after Trump’s claims that he had brokered the ceasefire between India and Pakistan.“I will share it as an anecdote…we were behind the scenes, behind the stage, and at one point it was just the President and I. And he asked me what are the Indians going to raise. We went over some topics. And he said, did they have any asks. And MEA had one ask. And let’s bring in the media, let’s not do a full press conference, no questions. And so I told the President, Indians prefer no questions. So he said no problem. The meeting starts, the press comes in. There are 50 cameras. President sitting here, Prime Minister sitting there. They both speak for a few minutes. As soon as they get done, the first thing the President does is, looks at the cameras and says any questions? And that opened everything up. And he did a 45-minute press conference, and everything was on the table,” Gor said at the event.Raising Gor’s remarks, Congress leader Pawan Khera said in a post on X: “This @MEAIndia response to @USAmbIndia comment is revealing because: it suggests that it may be Modi’s normal practice to plead with foreign governments not to make him face the media; he pleads, but they don’t listen; then they publicly mock him by revealing that they ignored him; and yet, he won’t fight back — because he is compromised.”“This is not just about Narendra Modi. It is the office of India’s Prime Minister that is being diminished and disrespected. And Modi deserves every bit of condemnation for bringing us to this point,” Khera said.