Chinese President Xi Jinping is likely to attend next month’s BRICS summit in New Delhi accompanied by a large delegation, in what would be his first visit to India in seven years, Ada Derana reported on Monday, carrying Reuters copy that cited three sources.
India is hosting the summit on September 12 and 13. Xi’s presence would be read less for what it means for the BRICS agenda than for what it signals about efforts by Beijing and New Delhi to stabilise a relationship damaged by deadly border clashes in 2020.
“Chinese officials are busy finalising hotels and security protocols,” one Indian source with direct knowledge told Reuters. Two other Indian sources said Xi was likely to travel with a delegation of about 400 officials, against fewer than 200 on his last visit in 2019. His final travel plans, and the agenda for any bilateral meeting with India, have yet to be settled.
China’s foreign ministry said it “attaches great importance to and actively participates in BRICS cooperation, and supports India, the current chair, in successfully hosting this year’s BRICS summit”. Asked about the visit itself, it said: “We currently have no information available to provide.” Xi did not attend the 2025 BRICS summit in Brazil.
A gradual thaw
The two most populous nations, both nuclear powers, share a roughly 3,800-kilometre Himalayan border that is largely undemarcated and disputed. Decades of relative calm ended with clashes in 2020 that killed 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers, triggering a four-year military standoff that was eased by a disengagement pact in October 2024.
Progress since has been uneven. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi travelled to China last year for the first time in seven years, but a fresh border-related dispute has since prompted sharp exchanges between the two capitals. On August 12, India said peace along the border was critical to the relationship, following reports that Indian and Chinese patrols had come face to face in late July near a remote stretch of the frontier.
Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval began a visit to Beijing on Monday for talks on the boundary question with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
While the two remain competitors, US President Donald Trump’s trade policies have produced one area of convergence, making Xi’s attendance a signal that neither side wants outside pressure to weaken the bloc. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is also expected in New Delhi for the summit.
As of late on Monday, no other verified Sri Lankan newsroom had published its own report of the expected visit.
