Jaishankar Flags Chinese Help to Pakistan But Modi-Xi Meeting May Be On Cards; 'Nightmare' for US-Bound Students Begins; Army Chief's Temple Visit in Uniform Raises Questions

A newsletter from The Wire | Founded by Tanweer Alam, Sidharth Bhatia, Pratik Kanjilal, Seema Chishti, Sushant Singh, MK Venu, and Siddharth Varadarajan | Contributing writer: Kalrav Joshi, with additional inputs by Anirudh SK

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Over to Siddharth Varadarajan for today’s Cable

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Snapshot of the day

May 29, 2025

Siddharth Varadarajan

China’s military support for Pakistan — including the reported fast-tracking of its advanced J-35A stealth fighter jets to Islamabad — helped Islamabad during its recent 4-day conflict with India and External Affairs minister S. Jaishankar made no bones about this when asked about China’s role in an interview to a German newspaper today. "You know, many of the weapons systems that Pakistan has are of Chinese origin, and the two countries are very close. You can draw your conclusions from that.”

One conclusion that is not readily apparent is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s apparent willingness to extend an olive branch to President Xi Jinping. The two leaders are likely to meet in Rio de Janeiro this July, as New Delhi continues its pursuit of “normalising” ties with Beijing, reports Deccan Herald. This potential encounter, being explored by Indian and Chinese officials on the sidelines of the upcoming BRICS summit, would mark only the second face-to-face between Modi and Xi since their staged handshake at last year’s BRICS summit in Kazan. That meeting, hailed as a diplomatic thaw, came after more than four years of frozen ties and aggressive posturing – most notably the military standoff in eastern Ladakh that shattered any illusion of stability along the Line of Actual Control.

Yet, even as Beijing arms India’s chief regional adversary, New Delhi’s eagerness to seek normalisation and pursue optics raises serious questions