(Web Desk) – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s late August tour of Japan and China was expected to be a high-profile engagement, particularly with the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit on the agenda. Yet the trip triggered more questions than announcements – not because of Modi’s speeches, but because of who was missing. Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, long considered Modi’s most trusted diplomat, was nowhere to be seen.
Since his appointment as foreign minister in 2019, Jaishankar has been central to shaping Modi’s foreign policy image. Rarely has Modi travelled abroad without him. Jaishankar’s past postings as ambassador to both Beijing and Tokyo further amplified the surprise at his exclusion from the 29 August to 1 September trip.
Official silence
Speculation mounted quickly. On 31 August, journalist Geeta Mohan posted on social media that Jaishankar had skipped the tour due to health reasons, calling it the first such instance in Modi’s tenure. However, the Ministry of External Affairs issued no statement confirming his condition.
EAM Jaishankar has not accompanied PM Modi to China. I'm told he is unwell. This is the first time that he is not there with PM Modi on a foreign visit.#ModiInChina
— Geeta Mohan گیتا موہن गीता मोहन (@Geeta_Mohan) August 31, 2025Instead, Jaishankar’s own social media account carried on posting photos of his meetings – including a conversation with Finland’s foreign minister – undermining claims of ill health.
China angle
The timing also drew attention. Only weeks earlier, Jaishankar had visited Beijing, where he told his Chinese counterpart that India sought not just a multipolar world but also a multipolar Asia. The comment was widely read as rejecting Chinese dominance in the region. Beijing responded sharply. The Communist Party’s Global Times accused Jaishankar of obstructing better relations with China in order to curry favour with Washington.
Jaishankar’s previous remarks have also sparked controversy. In August last year, he argued that “China is a problem for everyone,” citing Europe and the United States as examples of nations troubled by Beijing’s influence. That statement invited further criticism from Chinese media, which painted Jaishankar as a barrier to reconciliation.
Policy shifts
Observers in New Delhi suggest that India’s diplomacy is undergoing a recalibration. A Delhi-based academic told BBC that Jaishankar’s policies placed excessive reliance on Washington – “like putting all eggs in one basket.” Despite the alignment, the Trump administration still imposed a 50 per cent tariff on Indian goods.
Former foreign minister Salman Khurshid has also warned that Modi’s government abandoned the principle of non-alignment. “We moved completely towards America, yet they still punished us,” he noted. Against this backdrop, Jaishankar’s absence during Modi’s China visit is being seen as more than a personal matter – it points to India’s uneasy balancing act between Washington and Beijing.