Xi's visit confirmed
Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi from September 12 to 13, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed on Thursday, as reported by ANI. According to a statement issued by the ministry, Xi will travel to India at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The confirmation ends weeks of anticipation over Beijing's representation at the summit, which India is hosting at Bharat Mandapam. The visit marks Xi's first trip to India since his informal meeting with Modi in Mamallapuram in 2019, as noted by ANI. However, The Hindu reported that Xi's arrival on Saturday was his first visit to Delhi since 2014, while also noting that this will be the third year in a row that Modi and Xi have met, following previous meetings in Kazan and Tianjin.
The Times of India, citing Reuters, described the visit as Xi's first trip to India in seven years. The summit comes as the two countries work to stabilise ties after years of tensions over their disputed border, a point echoed across multiple reports.
Summit agenda and bilateral engagement
India's 2026 BRICS presidency theme is "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability," according to ANI. The expanded grouping, which now has 11 core members and 10 partner countries, is expected to deliberate on issues ranging from trade and financial cooperation to technology, artificial intelligence, energy security, climate action and reforms of global institutions, ANI reported.
Later in the day on Saturday, Modi is scheduled to meet Xi, with a view to improve trade and people-to-people relations, while border tensions continue in the background, The Hindu reported.
Ahead of the confirmation, India's Ambassador to China Vikram Doraiswami published an opinion piece in the Chinese daily Global Times, as reported by ANI. In it, he said that India and China, as two of the world's most populous emerging economies, are cooperation partners, not rivals, and are each other's development opportunities rather than threats. He also said that a "stable, predictable, and amicable" India-China relationship is important for their combined population of 2.8 billion people and for global peace, stability and prosperity.
Delegation and other leaders
Xi will attend the summit with a large delegation—more than double the Chinese contingent that accompanied him on his last India visit in 2019, according to Reuters as cited by The Times of India. Two Indian sources told Reuters that Xi was likely to be accompanied by around 400 officials, compared with fewer than 200 during his 2019 visit.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is also confirmed to attend the summit, ANI reported. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Modi and Putin will hold a bilateral meeting on Friday, September 11, ahead of the BRICS Summit.
Background: recent diplomatic efforts
The visit comes amid continued high-level efforts to improve ties. Last month, national security advisor Ajit Doval met Chinese vice president Han Zheng in Beijing, with the two sides discussing ways to maintain peace and tranquillity along the border and strengthen relations across economic, political and multilateral platforms, as reported by The Times of India.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on September 8 that Beijing attached high importance to BRICS cooperation and supported India in hosting the summit, but did not disclose Xi's attendance at that time, ANI reported. Modi and Xi shared a handshake ahead of the family photograph at the SCO Summit in Bishkek on September 1, according to ANI.