Chinese President Xi Jinping departed from Beijing early Saturday morning, arriving in New Delhi later the same day to attend the 18th BRICS Summit, which is being hosted by India. The visit carries considerable weight, coming at a time when India-China relations remain strained after years of military standoffs along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.
Xi was accompanied by a delegation of senior Chinese officials, including Cai Qi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee. Cai holds a position among the most powerful roles in China's political hierarchy, underscoring the importance Beijing places on these discussions with New Delhi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended the invitation to Xi, and the two leaders are expected to hold bilateral talks later in the day. While the exact agenda has not been fully disclosed, analysts expect the conversation to cover the status of disengagement efforts along the disputed border, trade relations, regional security concerns, and broader multilateral cooperation within the BRICS framework.
The last face-to-face meeting between the two leaders took place in 2022 during a virtual summit, making this physical encounter a notable development. Since the violent clashes at Galwan Valley in June 2020, which claimed the lives of 20 Indian soldiers and an unknown number of Chinese troops, diplomatic channels have remained fragile. Multiple rounds of military and diplomatic negotiations have yielded partial disengagement at several points along the LAC, but a comprehensive resolution remains elusive.
The BRICS grouping — comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, and newly admitted members including Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates — has become an important platform for India to engage China in a multilateral setting even as bilateral ties remain difficult. India has consistently emphasized the need to separate bilateral differences from multilateral cooperation.
Sources familiar with the matter indicate that the Indian government has carefully calibrated its diplomatic protocol for the visit, balancing the desire for constructive engagement with a firm stance on border issues. Security arrangements across New Delhi have been significantly heightened ahead of Xi's arrival, with extensive coordination between Indian intelligence agencies and the National Security Guard (NSG).
