Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in New Delhi on September 12, 2026, for the 18th BRICS Summit, his first visit to India in seven years. He is scheduled to hold a crucial bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the conference at Bharat Mandapam, a meeting that has been highly anticipated amid strained relations between the two countries.
The discussions between Xi and Modi are expected to address persistent flashpoints, including the unresolved territorial dispute along their shared border, a heavily skewed trade imbalance favoring Beijing, stringent visa restrictions, and ongoing state curbs on Chinese investments in critical Indian sectors. Despite these challenges, both nations are under pressure to navigate their economic and geopolitical differences to maintain regional stability, especially given the unpredictable trade and tariff policies of US President Donald Trump.
India is hosting the two-day summit as the current BRICS chair, bringing together leaders from the expanded 11-nation bloc. Leaders from Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, UAE, Iran, and Saudi Arabia are all attending. Xi's visit and the anticipated meeting with Modi are seen as a step towards reconciliation following a deadly military clash in 2020 along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Other leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, have already held bilateral meetings with Modi, underscoring the summit's high stakes in navigating global geopolitical shifts, the ongoing Middle East crisis, energy security concerns, and demands from the Global South for reformed international governance.
