This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, and Shardool Katyayan are joined by Akshay Bhambri, doctoral fellow at the Institute for Chinese Studies–Harvard Yenching Institute, and Sumeet Mhaskar, professor at OP Jindal Global University. 

The conversation opens with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to China for the SCO Summit – his first visit to the country since 2018 – where he held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The panel analyses the optics of the meeting, body language narratives, and India’s strategic balancing act. 

Akshay argues that the Indian media’s portrayal of Chinese reactions is not actually correct, noting that Chinese social media largely framed Modi’s presence through Xi’s success in convening world leaders rather than admiration for Modi himself.

“The Times of India and The Print reported that Putin and Modi’s car ride was trending on Baidu, China’s equivalent of Google. It did appear in the top 20 of Baidu’s trending list, but the conversation wasn’t really about appreciating Modi or his actions. Instead, users were more focused on how Trump might react, what this meant for Putin, and how Xi Jinping had managed to orchestrate the moment,” says Bhambri. 

He also questions PM Modi’s visit with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. 

“A big negative coming from SCO is that Modi met the right hand of Xi Jinping, Wang Yee, and all these people. When a head like the Prime Minister and president of China are meeting each other, there was no point meeting a second right hand of Xi Jinping, because that's a level below Xi Jinping.” Bhambri adds. 

Abhinandan adds, “The challenge for the Indian leadership is that Trump’s unpredictability has forced everyone to realign their positions. He has shaken up the global order so dramatically that confusion is inevitable.” 

Speaking on India’s foreign policy, Manisha points out, “Indian diplomats and India’s foreign policy also have a lot to answer for, because they relied too much on the supposed personal chemistry of Modi with global leaders. Serious diplomats, or mandarins as they’re called, should have calculated what could happen and what needed to be done as situations evolved. You have to work out your realignment in advance, because at the end of the day, this is a game of chess.”

Sumeet explains that social hierarchy plays a crucial role in how protests are treated. When dominant castes like the Marathas mobilise, the state response is far more restrained compared to how it would react if Muslims or Dalits staged similar demonstrations. 

Hafta letters: Video games, weakening economy, online betting