China's Xi likely to visit India for BRICS summit with 400-member delegation
Chinese President Xi Jinping is likely to travel to India next month for the BRICS summit in New Delhi, his first visit in seven years, Reuters reported, citing Indian sources. He is expected to be accompanied by a delegation of around 400 officials, two Indian sources told the agency.
India is scheduled to host the BRICS summit on September 12 and 13. Chinese officials were working on hotel bookings and security arrangements ahead of the possible visit, an Indian source familiar with the preparations told Reuters. Two other Indian sources said Xi could travel with roughly 400 officials, significantly more than the fewer than 200 who accompanied him in 2019.
China has not officially confirmed Xi's travel plans. Asked about the visit, China's foreign ministry reportedly said Beijing attaches great importance to and actively participates in BRICS cooperation and supports India as the host. The ministry said it had no information available to provide on Xi's travel arrangements.
The proposed visit follows an invitation extended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Tianjin in August 2025. Xi accepted the invitation and expressed support for India's BRICS presidency, officials said.
A visit would be Xi's first since the informal summit in Mamallapuram in 2019, months before ties deteriorated after the Galwan Valley clash in June 2020, in which 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers were killed. The confrontation triggered a prolonged standoff along the roughly 3,800-km disputed border, with thousands of troops deployed. The two sides reached a disengagement agreement in October 2024, easing some military tensions.
Ahead of the summit, India's National Security Adviser Ajit Doval travelled to Beijing and held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, with the boundary dispute among the key issues discussed. Doval reached Beijing for boundary talks even as uncertainty remained over Xi's visit.
Both countries have taken steps to rebuild diplomatic engagement. Modi visited China last year, his first trip in seven years. Direct commercial flights have resumed and visa restrictions were eased. China also participated in India's AI Impact Summit earlier this year.
The summit is expected to bring together leaders of the expanded BRICS grouping, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. Analysts say the meeting comes at a time of trade tensions and conflicts in West Asia, with emerging economies seeking to strengthen cooperation through BRICS.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Saturday that India and China have an interest in maintaining a stable bilateral relationship. "At the end of the day, peace and tranquillity in the border areas is a prerequisite for good relations, and the state of the border, to a very large measure, naturally would determine the state of our relationship," he said, PTI reported.
If confirmed, Xi's visit would be one of the most significant diplomatic engagements between the two neighbours since Galwan, and would be closely watched for signs of further improvement in bilateral ties.
(With inputs from PTI)
