- शुक्रबार, १४ वैशाख, २०८१
WASHINGTON, Oct 04, (AFP) – President Barack Obama canceled trips to two key Asian summits on Thursday, blaming the US government shutdown for the decision.The White House said in a statement Obama would miss the APEC Summit in Bali as well as the following East Asia Summit in Brunei.
“Due to the government shutdown, President Obama’s travel to Indonesia and Brunei has been cancelled,” the statement said.
“The President made this decision based on the difficulty in moving forward with foreign travel in the face of a shutdown, and his determination to continue pressing his case that Republicans should immediately allow a vote to reopen the government.”
The White House said Obama had called Indonesia President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to inform him of the cancelation.”He expressed his regret that the ongoing government shutdown in the United States will prevent him from attending the Summit,” the statement said.
Obama had also called the Sultan of Brunei, the White House said.Secretary of State John Kerry would lead the US delegations to both countries in place of Obama, the statement said, before rounding on Republicans.
“The cancelation of this trip is another consequence of the House Republicans forcing a shutdown of the government,” the White House statement said.
“This completely avoidable shutdown is setting back our ability to create jobs through promotion of US exports and advance US leadership and interests in the largest emerging region in the world.”
