Although Duterte said he would be seated next to his American counterpart, the two did not sit next to each other at the dinner.
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A Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman, Charles Joe, also said Obama and Duterte met in the holding room.
Despite US dismay over Duterte’s remarks, current and former US officials played down the impact, saying they did not expect any serious damage to ties at a time of high tensions over China’s extensive territorial claims in Asia.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte expressed regret over explicit comments made about President Barack Obama that led to the cancellation of a scheduled meeting in Laos.
However, Obama cancelled the meeting after Duterte warned him and other leaders against questioning his bloody anti-drug campaign with the words “son of a bitch”.
“You must be respectful”, Duterte said, after a reporter asked him how he might respond to criticism from Obama about his approach to combating crime.
“I expect to work very hard over the next four and a half months”, he said. He says the interaction shows that the relationship between the two allies is strong.
Earlier in the day, Modi attended the 14th India-Asean Summit which was attended by the leaders of 10 southeast Asian nations – Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand.
“We are not going to back off from our position when we are working with a country”, he said adding, “It has no impact on our broader relationship with the Philippine people and on the wide range of programmes and security cooperation”.
There was no immediate confirmation from the White House regarding the meeting. Do not just throw questions.
Duterte also blamed the United States for the crisis in the southern Philippines island of Mindanao. He said that in recent years, the US and Asia had solidified “unprecedented” cooperation that will create more prosperity for their peoples.
From trade dependence to money from workers overseas, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte can hardly afford to pick a fight with the US given his country’s ties to the world’s largest economy.
However, Obama did not sit next to Duterte.
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President Barack Obama warned Thursday against becoming immune to Donald Trump’s more outlandish statements, arguing that the stakes of the USA presidential contest were too high for Americans to tune out.
