This Week in Explainers: Should a lunch between Trump and Asim Munir really worry India?

Pakistan's General Asim Munir visited the US and in what came as a surprising development had lunch with Donald Trump. It's unusual for a military chief to receive an invitation from a sitting US president. But should this meeting bother India? We analyse in our weekly roundup read more
US President Donald Trump hosted Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir for lunch at the White House on Wednesday (June 18). It is unusual for the president to meet a military head of a foreign nation, say experts. File photo/AP
It's been over a week since Israel and Iran have been attacking each other. There is a possibility that the US might join Israel's war against the Islamic Republic; Donald Trump is considering his options. India has been treading cautiously; it has strategic ties with both nations. However, it is impossible not to be affected by tensions in West Asia – from oil to trade routes, there is a lot at stake. Also, there are thousands of Indians living in both countries.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
New Delhi has been keeping a close eye on West Asia. Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi received a call from his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, where he shared 'India's concerns'. India also launched Operation Sindhu to evacuate its nationals caught in these conflict zones.
This week has been a busy one for PM Modi. He first stopped at Cyprus, before he headed for the G7 summit in Canada. On his way back, he visited Croatia.
The Air India plane crash continues to hold the interest of our readers. While the investigation is ongoing, it is too early to say what caused the accident. However, several theories have been doing the rounds, including one by an aviation expert about a possible cockpit error and the pilots deploying an emergency power system before the crash. Amid this speculation, the black box, which is crucial to the probe, has been recovered but is damaged .
We talk about all this and more in our weekly roundup.
1. With each passing day, the Israel-Iran conflict has been escalating. The tensions have big implications for India. What could it mean for New Delhi? From oil prices to trade routes, from student safety to aviation, there are plenty of reasons to worry. This story explains.
2. Living in Iran is hellish as Israel continues to bombard it with missiles. Stranded in the Islamic Republic are thousands of Indian students. While India has launched Operation Sindhu to evacuate them, many students, still caught in the middle of the war, fear for their lives. Most of them are aspiring doctors. But why do so many pick Iran to study medicine?
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
Indian students returning from Iran via Armenia, under an evacuation operation facilitated by the Government of India. They are seen exiting from the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi on June 19. More than 100 students from Kashmir Valley reached New Delhi early Thursday. PTI
3. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is known for his diplomacy. This week, before he headed to Canada, he visited Cyprus. He is the first Indian PM to visit the country in over two decades. Was the visit a message to Turkey, with whom ties are tense after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan supported Pakistan during Operation Sindoor? Why does Cyprus matter to India? We explain .
4. Since 2023, ties between India and Canada have deteriorated. It looks like that is about to change under Prime Minister Mark Carney. The Canadian leader invited PM Modi to the G7 summit, and the two held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the gathering in Kananaskis, Alberta. They have agreed to hit reset. Here's how .
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi shake hands before posing for a photo during the G7 Leaders' Summit in Kananaskis, in Alberta, Canada, on June 17. Reuters
5. More than a week after the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad, the speculation over the cause of the tragedy continues. Many theories have emerged. Aviation expert Captain Steve wonders if the pilots may have accidentally retracted the flaps instead of the landing gear during the initial climb. Another possibility is that the Ram Air Turbine (RAT) might have deployed shortly after its takeoff. Our stories try to decode all of this.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
6. Air India remains under the scanner after the Ahmedabad plane crash. Questions are being raised about safety. This week, there were incidents of emergency landings and technical glitches. While one flight took a U-turn after takeoff, another asked passengers to deplane at a stopover. What's going on?
The tail of an Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane that crashed is seen stuck on a building after the incident in Ahmedabad, India, on June 12. In the aftermath of the crash, Air India continues to cancel several flights. Reuters
7. The India-Pakistan water war is ongoing. After India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty, the neighbouring nation is struggling with lower levels of water in its dams. Now, India is mulling another big move – a 113-km canal to redirect excess water from Jammu & Kashmir towards Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. Will it deal another blow to Pakistan?
Water flows on the banks of Chenab River with the Baglihar hydroelectric project in the background, about 155 km northwest of Jammu. India is conducting a feasibility study to construct a 113 km-long canal to redirect surplus flow from the three western rivers of the Indus water system to Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. File photo/Reuters
8. Talking about Pakistan, its army chief, Asim Munir, was in the US . While his invitation to Trump's military parade was a rumour, Munir had lunch with Potus. It's the first such instance of a sitting US president dining with the military chief of another country. Does it signal a tightening of ties? Should India be concerned?
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
9. The Meghalaya honeymoon murder case continues to unravel. Chilling details have emerged about how Raja Raghuvanshi was murdered. Police say that two machetes were used and three blows were struck at his body before he was dumped into a gorge in the East Khasi Hills. Find out more in this report .
10. Our last story is a heartbreaking one. Arrowhead, one of Ranthambore's famous tigresses, died after battling bone cancer. She was the granddaughter of Machli, arguably the most photographed tigress in the world. Like Machli, Arrowhead also slayed a crocodile… two days before she breathed her last. This is her story .
Ranthambore's famous tigress died after a battle with cancer. She is the daughter of Krishna and the granddaughter of the legendary Machli. Image courtesy: Fotokatha
These are our recommendations on stories about India that you shouldn't miss. Happy reading. You will find more such explainers here .

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Business Standard

22 minutes ago

• Business Standard

PM Modi has mastered 'art of slogans', not solutions: Rahul Gandhi

Rahul Gandhi, the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha, said Modi has "no new ideas" and has "surrendered" Press Trust of India New Delhi Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has mastered the "art of slogans" but offers no solutions, and claimed that India's manufacturing was at a record low despite the 'Make in India' initiative. "'Make in India' promised a factory boom. So why is manufacturing at record lows, youth unemployment at record highs, and why have imports from China more than doubled? "Modi ji has mastered the art of slogans, not solutions. Since 2014, manufacturing has fallen to 14 per cent of our economy," he said in a post on X. Gandhi, the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha, said Modi has "no new ideas" and has "surrendered". "Even the much-hyped PLI scheme is now being quietly rolled back," he alleged. Gandhi said India needs a fundamental shift, one that empowers lakhs of producers through honest reforms and financial support. "We must stop being a market for others. If we don't build here, we'll keep buying from those who do. The clock is ticking," he said. Gandhi met mobile repair technicians at Nehru Place, Delhi and attached a video of the conversation to the post. "In Nehru Place, New Delhi, I met Shivam and Saif - bright, skilled, full of promise - yet denied the opportunity to fulfil it. Noting that there is a difference between 'Made in India' and 'Assembled in India', he said: "The truth is stark: we assemble, we import, but we don't build. China profits." "China is the world's electronic market. There is no other electronic market anywhere. Assembly as many iPhones as you want, all you are doing is giving money to the big oligopolies of India. Start making iPhones, it's a completely different ball game," he said in the video. The former Congress chief said to manufacture parts, whether it is a motherboard or "small pieces", you need a certain level of machining, a certain level of quality, a certain level of understanding of tolerances of working with small components. "That is a learnt skill. That is not something you can get in just two minutes. Until you start respecting the idea of physical labour, the man who is doing that we have no respect for that guy on the street who is sitting there, selling his things, for hours together... "And, at the centre of it, and people don't like it when I say it, and at the centre of it is the idea of caste. We need to make this transparent. We need to show exactly how Indian society distributes power, exactly how Indian society distributes respect," Gandhi observed. Rahul Gandhi and the Congress have raised the issue of conducting a nationwide caste census to ascertain if various castes in society have a proportionate "share" of power. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Time of India

27 minutes ago

• Time of India

Middle East conflict: Israel strikes Iran's Isfahan nuclear site again, centrifuge facilities targeted

Israel has launched a second wave of strikes on Iran's Isfahan nuclear facility, targeting two centrifuge production sites overnight, a senior Israeli military official confirmed on Saturday. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The renewed attack comes just days after the first round of airstrikes on June 13, which Israel said struck facilities linked to uranium metal production and enrichment infrastructure. 'Isfahan we targeted in the first 24 hours of our operation, but we carried out a second wave of strikes there overnight, deepening our achievements and advancing the damage to the facility,' the official told AFP. He added that the latest strikes were part of a broader campaign, noting that Israel had also hit 'a couple more centrifuge production sites' elsewhere in recent days. The repeated raids by the Israeli air force have "dealt a severe blow to Iran's centrifuge production capabilities,' he said. Centrifuges are critical to uranium enrichment, a process that can serve both civilian energy needs and, at higher levels of purity, military applications such as nuclear weapons. Isfahan, a central city in Iran's nuclear programme, houses a uranium conversion facility and a nuclear fuel fabrication plant, both key to Iran's civilian nuclear ambitions. The site was also earmarked for a new research reactor, announced in 2022. Despite the strikes, Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation has sought to downplay the damage. Following the first wave of attacks, it stated that there had been 'no extensive' impact and assured the public that there was no radiation threat. Alongside Isfahan, Israel has also recently targeted Iran's underground nuclear facilities at Natanz and Fordo, both of which are believed to play a significant role in the country's uranium enrichment efforts. The latest developments mark a sharp escalation in the long-running shadow war between Israel and Iran, with growing concern over the implications for regional stability and the future of Iran's nuclear capabilities.

News18

31 minutes ago

• News18

Grounded In Kerala, British Fighter Jet For ‘Sale On OLX': ‘Automatic Parking, Gun To Destroy...'

Last Updated: The ad also shows that the listing has been posted by "Donaldu Trumpan", accompanied by a picture of US President and photos of the jet. After a British Royal Navy F-35 fighter jet made an unexpected landing at Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram International Airport last week, an unusual OLX ad featuring the jet has gone viral online. The satirical listing, priced at $4 million, humorously claims the jet includes features like automatic parking, brand-new tyres, a new battery and even an 'automatic gun to destroy traffic violators." Posted under the name 'Donaldu Trumpan", alongside a photo of former U.S. President Donald Trump, the ad also includes multiple images of the fighter jet. The video quickly went viral, with many users flooding the comments section with memes and hilarious jokes. One person wrote, 'India is not for Beginners. Indians put the Royal Navy's F35B stealth fighter jet for sale on OLX, which has been grounded in Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram airport for 6 days." India is not for Beginners Another wrote, 'Indian Humour is on another level. Someone listed the British F35B, which is grounded in Trivandrum, on OLX for sale." Indian Humor is on another level Someone listed the British F35 which is grounded in Trivandrum on olx for sale Someone put the fighter Jet of British Airforce -F-35 on OLX ??? Mr @POTUS your fighter jet F 35 B is for sale in OlX. Someone posted this after a crash landing in Trivandrum international Airport India. #OlX #fighterjets #f35A — Mubarak Ravuthar (@MubarakRavuthar) June 19, 2025 However, it was later found that the posting is fake and no such listing exists on OLX's social media website. The online exchange marketplace replied to one of the social media users, saying, 'Dear OLX User, We regret the inconvenience caused to you. We would quickly like to resolve this for you. Please send us an email to support@ with the complete details so that we can check further." On June 14, 2025, a British Royal Navy F-35B fighter jet, one of the world's most advanced and expensive combat aircraft, made an emergency landing in Kerala due to a technical snag in its hydraulic systems. Currently stationed in the Indo-Pacific area, the royal fighter jet is being protected by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF). It is a part of the UK's HMS Prince of Wales Carrier Strike Group. First Published: