Suspense Over: Chinese President Xi to Visit India for BRICS Summit

Beijing: Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit India this week to attend the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi, the foreign ministry announced on Thursday. This will be Xi's first visit to India in nearly seven years.

At the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Xi will attend the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi from September 12 to 13, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said.

During his visit, Xi is expected to meet Prime Minister Modi on the sidelines of the summit, according to sources here.

The visit is expected to be a high-profile diplomatic engagement with implications for the ongoing efforts to stabilise bilateral ties between the two Asian powers as well as for BRICS cooperation amid a volatile global situation, particularly the West Asia conflict and the Russia-Ukraine war.

As the current chair of the influential grouping, India will host the 18th BRICS Summit on September 12 and 13 in New Delhi.

Xi last visited India in 2019 for an informal summit with Modi in Mamallapuram near Chennai.

He had earlier visited Goa in 2016 to attend the BRICS summit and made his first visit to India in September 2014, when he held extensive talks with Modi. The 2014 visit came during the first terms of both leaders.

Xi's forthcoming visit is significant, as it comes amid efforts by India and China to normalise relations after a prolonged freeze following the 2020 Eastern Ladakh standoff.

Ahead of Xi's visit, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held extensive talks in Beijing last month on the boundary issue, maintaining peace and tranquility along the border and steps to improve bilateral relations.

During the 25th round of Special Representatives' talks held in Beijing on August 25, the two sides reached an eight-point consensus and agreed to advance discussions on an "Early and Substantial Harvest" of boundary delimitation and border management.

Against the backdrop of these substantive discussions on the boundary and wider bilateral issues, a Modi-Xi meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS summit is expected to be closely watched for indications of the future course of India-China relations.

The New Delhi BRICS summit will bring together the world's major emerging economies -- Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, with multilateral cooperation expected to remain at the core of the grouping's agenda.

BRICS has evolved into a key platform for emerging economies to advocate for greater representation in global governance, reform international financial institutions, strengthen trade and investment links, and advance sustainable development goals.

According to Chinese officials, Xi's participation underscores Beijing's continued commitment to the BRICS framework and its role in shaping a more inclusive global order.

The discussions are expected to cover a wide range of shared interests, including expanding intra-BRICS trade, strengthening payment systems, boosting cooperation in science and technology, addressing climate change, and coordinating positions on major international issues.

BRICS, originally comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, expanded in 2024 to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the UAE and Saudi Arabia, with Indonesia joining in 2025.

Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Vietnam became BRICS partner countries last year.

It emerged as an influential grouping as it brings together 11 major emerging economies of the world, representing around 49.5 per cent of the global population, around 40 per cent of the global GDP and around 26 per cent of the global trade.

In a media statement, the Ministry of External Affairs had said India's BRICS chairship is guided by the theme: 'Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability', reflecting Prime Minister Modi's vision of a people-centric approach rooted in the spirit of 'Humanity First'.

India is a founding member of the BRICS and has previously held its chairship three times, in 2012, 2016 and 2021.

India assumed its fourth BRICS chairship on January 1. The year 2026 also marks a milestone as BRICS completes 20 years since its establishment.

Over the years, BRICS has steadily evolved into a comprehensive framework for cooperation across the three foundational pillars of political and security, economy and finance, cultural and people-to-people exchanges.