India

New Delhi, September 25, 2026. The Indian press first focuses on the staging of the second state summit between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping at the White House, before delving into the substance. The Times of India details Xi Jinping's arrival on Wednesday, accompanied by his wife Peng Liyuan, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and protocol chief Hong Lei, in a black Hongqi N701, "the Chinese equivalent of the American presidential Beast." On Thursday, greeted by a military band, Trump hailed a "very great friendship" based on "mutual respect," recalling Sino-American cooperation during World War II. Xi responded that China and the United States, "as great powers, have everything to gain from cooperation and everything to lose from confrontation," calling for "healthy" competition, "within limits," a "catch-up race" rather than a zero-sum struggle.

It is Xi's reference to the "Thucydides trap" - the theory that a rising power and an established power ultimately clash, borrowed from political scientist Graham Allison - that the Indian press retains as a guiding thread. The Times of India recalls that out of 16 historical cases recorded by Allison, 12 ended in war, and notes that Xi judged this trap "surmountable," implicitly placing the responsibility on Washington to accept China's rise without seeing it as an existential threat.

In substance, NDTV had announced beforehand that discussions would focus on tariffs, technology, artificial intelligence, military ties, Iran, Ukraine, the space arms race, and US arms sales to Taiwan - topics that, after the meeting, remain without concrete announcements. The most tangible gesture remains Xi's announcement of the sending of two pandas, Ping Ping and Fu Shuang, to the Atlanta zoo, as part of a new conservation agreement with the Chinese Association for the Protection of Wild Fauna.

The Indian press also highlights the spectacle dimension: Trump accused CNN and MSNBC of boycotting the coverage of Xi's arrival due to "lack of credibility," labeling them "fake news," on the same day a federal judge ordered the restoration of access to CNN, MS NOW, and Politico on White House grounds. The Free Press Journal notes that the President's daughter, Ivanka Trump, wore a dress by Chinese designer Guo Pei during the welcome ceremony - a detail that, for the Indian press, illustrates the weight of symbolism in a meeting without breakthroughs on trade, Taiwan, or AI.