New Delhi: Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit India for the first time in nearly seven years to attend the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi on September 12-13, China’s foreign ministry said on Thursday.
Xi will visit India at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. His trip is expected to provide an opportunity for the two leaders to review the recent improvement in bilateral ties and discuss efforts to resolve outstanding issues along the India-China border.
Xi last visited India in October 2019, when he met Modi for an informal summit in Mamallapuram. Relations deteriorated sharply months later after a military standoff erupted along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh in 2020.
The Galwan Valley clash in June 2020, in which 20 Indian soldiers and at least four Chinese troops were killed, pushed bilateral relations to their lowest point in decades.
The four-year military face-off began to ease after India and China reached an agreement in October 2024 on disengagement at the remaining friction points of Depsang and Demchok. Modi and Xi met days later on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Kazan and agreed to revive mechanisms to address the boundary dispute and work towards normalising ties.
Since then, the two countries have taken several steps to rebuild relations, including the resumption of direct flights and the revival of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra. Diplomatic and military channels have also remained engaged on maintaining peace and tranquillity along the LAC.
In August, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who serve as the two countries’ Special Representatives on the boundary question, reached an eight-point consensus. The agreement included additional military meeting points, new hotline channels and the reopening of three designated border trading points.
India and China also held their first corps commander-level meeting in the eastern sector in Arunachal Pradesh on September 6.
New Delhi, however, continues to maintain that peace and tranquillity along the border are essential for the normalisation of bilateral relations. External affairs minister S Jaishankar reiterated the position during his meeting with Wang in July, saying progress on the border remains a prerequisite for fully normalising ties.
Xi’s visit and his meeting with Modi are therefore expected to be closely watched for signs of how far the two countries are prepared to take the process of stabilising relations while addressing the unresolved boundary dispute.
BRICS summit in New Delhi
India is hosting the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi, where leaders are expected to discuss a range of global political and economic issues.
Xi’s presence will make his meeting with Modi one of the most closely watched engagements on the sidelines of the summit, particularly as New Delhi and Beijing seek to consolidate the recent improvement in bilateral ties.
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