New Delhi: US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are scheduled to attend the World Economic Forum hosted by Switzerland in Davos later this month.

So what are the chances the two leaders will meet for talks or bump into to each other in a chance encounter at the venue of the premier economic event of the year?

No one is sure, it seems. Though it’s not been ruled out as yet. This maybe due the fact that the exact dates for Trump’s visit to Davos are not yet clear.

India’s foreign ministry, however, has said that Modi would be in Davos on a two-day trip starting 22 January. And during his stay, Modi “will deliver the keynote speech at the plenary session of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland on 23 January 2018," the ministry said in a statement.

Modi’s visit is the first since then prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda in 1997.

And Trump will be the first US President to make the visit to Davos since then US president Bill Clinton in the year 2000, according to a Bloomberg report.

The Indian foreign ministry as well as people familiar with the developments on the US side are keeping mum about any possibility of a meeting between the two. But there has been no outright rejection of the possibility— as yet.

For one, Modi’s visit to Switzerland will be a brief one—sandwiched between two key events on India’s diplomatic calendar this month. The first is a visit by the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who will be in India on a four day visit starting 14 January.

The second is the India-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) commemorative summit on 25 January to mark 25 years of association between Asia’s third largest economy and one of the most vibrant economic blocs in the world. Modi will play host to all 10 ASEAN heads of government on 25 January. On 26 January, the 10 leaders will take the stage with Modi as President Ram Nath Kovind takes the salute at India’s 69th Republic Day celebrations.

That Modi has to be back in India in time for the showpiece India-ASEAN commemorative meet could make it difficult for those possibly trying to set up a meeting with Trump.

As of now, the foreign ministry has confirmed only one bilateral meeting at Davos for Modi—with Alain Berset, the president of the Swiss Confederation on 22 January.

If the meeting with Trump comes through, it will be the third one between the two leaders in the space of less than a year. The two first met at the White House in June and later on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit in November in the Philippines. The past year also saw the two leaders speak by phone to each other many times.

Under Trump, there has been a seemingly increasing convergence between India and the US on many issues of strategic importance—like Afghanistan for one where Trump himself pitched for a larger role for India in stabilising the war torn country and berated Pakistan for its support to terrorist groups in a key foreign policy statement on South Asia in August.

In October, US secretary of state Rex Tillerson pitched for a greater role for India in the Indo-Pacific region and called for a dialogue among like minded countries like Japan, India, Australia and the US to ensure stability—against the backdrop of an aggressive China flexing its muscles in the region. Officials of the four countries later met in Manila ahead of the East Asia Summit in November.

The US has also joined India in voicing concerns about Beijing’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative that New Delhi has stayed out of, citing “sovereignty issues."

More recently, the US announced an end to aid to Pakistan as a punishment for its inability to rein in terrorist groups—a development keenly watched in India though New Delhi has not commented on it.

And this week, an issue that could have impacted India-US bilateral relations—the H-1B visa—was sorted with the US immigration department reconsidering plans to change visa rules that would force half the Indian workforce in the US employed mainly in the IT sector to leave in line with Trump’s “Hire American" policy.

Modi’s visit to Davos also comes after the Indian government announced steps to liberalize the foreign direct investment (FDI) regime in aviation, single-brand retail, power exchanges and real estate broking. The US under Trump has been looking to square its trade deficit with India which stands at around $30 billion and has been seeking increased market access for its companies.

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