Modi’s ‘Is it okay?’ Remark Was About Xi’s Earpiece, Not Health

A fresh camera angle of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s exchange with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the BRICS Summit in New Delhi suggests his now-viral “Is it okay?” comment had nothing to do with Xi’s health. Instead, it appears to have been a simple check-in about a technical glitch with Xi’s translation earpiece.

New Footage Offers Missing Context

The clip, captured from a different angle by Russian broadcaster Rossiya 1, shows the two leaders’ interaction more clearly than the earlier viral video that sparked speculation. In the new footage, Xi can be seen fiddling with his earpiece, which appears to explain why Modi leaned in to ask if everything was fine. The original short clip, stripped of this context, had triggered a wave of online theories questioning Xi’s wellbeing, especially after South Africa’s president also reportedly fell ill around the same summit.

Social Media Pushes Back on Speculation

Following the release of the wider-angle video, several social media users and commentators have called out the rush to read too much into a brief, everyday exchange between world leaders. Prominent X users who shared the clip, including a founder with years of experience living in mainland China, also criticized sections of the international media for running speculative reports based on incomplete footage.

The interaction took place during Modi and Xi’s bilateral meeting at the 18th BRICS Summit, their first such meeting on Indian soil in seven years. The talks come at a sensitive moment in India-China relations, which have remained strained since the deadly 2020 Galwan Valley border clash, making even minor gestures between the two leaders subject to heavy scrutiny and viral misreading.