Shafaqna Pakistan: Chinese President Xi Jinping is likely to attend next month’s BRICS summit in New Delhi with a large delegation, according to three sources, potentially marking his first visit to India in seven years and signalling further improvement in ties between the two Asian rivals.
India is scheduled to host the BRICS summit on September 12 and 13. Xi’s expected attendance is likely to draw attention not only to the bloc’s agenda but also to efforts by Beijing and New Delhi to stabilise relations following deadly border clashes in 2020.
An Indian source familiar with the matter told Reuters that Chinese officials were currently finalising arrangements, including hotels and security protocols, for the visit.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited China last year for the first time in seven years, but bilateral relations have improved only gradually. More recently, a fresh dispute along the border led to renewed diplomatic tensions between the two countries.
Two other Indian sources said Xi was likely to be accompanied by a delegation of about 400 officials, compared with fewer than 200 officials the last time in 2019.
Officials from both countries are expected to use the summit to explore ways to expand engagement while managing long-standing differences over the border and regional security issues, the sources added.
Xi’s final travel plans and agenda for any potential bilateral between India and China are yet to be finalised, the sources said.The Chinese foreign ministry said, “China attaches great importance to and actively participates in BRICS cooperation, and supports India, the current chair, in successfully hosting this year’s BRICS summit.”
“We currently have no information available to provide” about Xi’s visit, it said. Xi missed the last BRICS summit in 2025 in Brazil.India’s foreign ministry did not comment.
The world’s two most populous nations, both nuclear powers, share a roughly 3,800-kms , largely undemarcated and disputed border in the Himalayas.
Decades of relative peace along the border were shattered by 2020 clashes where 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers were killed. The incident led to a four-year military standoff before reaching a disengagement pact in October 2024.
But on August 12, India said peace along the border was critical to ties after reports that Indian and Chinese army patrols came face-to-face in late July near a remote border.
Source: The News
