Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in New Delhi on Saturday for a BRICS summit alongside leaders from India, Russia and Iran.
Wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, along with trade turbulence and energy security, are testing the divided 11-nation grouping over the two-day meeting.
When did Xi Jinping arrive in India?
Xi landed in New Delhi on Saturday, September 12, for the 18th BRICS summit running through September 13. The visit is his first to India since 2019 and marks the biggest step yet in a cautious thaw between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
Why is Xi's visit to India significant?
Xi received a red-carpet welcome, with an honour guard of soldiers and traditional dancers in colourful dress. His arrival comes six years after a deadly 2020 military clash along the disputed Tibetan border, with ties gradually improving through restored flights, visas and high-level contacts.
Beijing said on Friday it was ready to work with India by strengthening communication and properly handling differences, though the underlying territorial dispute remains unresolved and both sides retain heavy deployments along their roughly 3,500-kilometre high-altitude border.
What will Xi and Modi discuss?
Xi is due to hold face-to-face talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi later on Saturday, according to New Delhi's foreign ministry. Pradeep Taneja, a China-India expert at the University of Melbourne, said both sides are looking for an "early and substantial harvest" on the border issue. He noted that a military build-up alongside calls for continued people-to-people and economic ties creates tension.
Deep mistrust persists over the contested Himalayan frontier, a widening trade deficit and strategic rivalry. Dozens of Tibetan exiles protested in New Delhi on Friday, including supporters of the Dalai Lama, who has lived in India since fleeing a Chinese crackdown in 1959, waving placards against Xi's visit.
Who else is attending the BRICS summit?
Modi embraced Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday before talks. Putin, who last visited India in December 2025, is one of New Delhi's most important strategic partners, and India has turned to Russia in part to navigate the energy crisis caused by the US-Iran war, despite Western pressure. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, also in New Delhi on Friday, said pressure on Iran "has reached a critical and dangerous stage" following what he called military aggression by the United States and Israel. Modi held separate talks with Pezeshkian, while India maintains cordial relations with both Iran and Israel and continues to balance ties with Washington.
What is the BRICS group and who is in it?
BRICS was created in 2009 as a forum for major emerging economies seeking greater influence in institutions dominated by Western powers. Modi told leaders that BRICS nations represent 50 percent of the world's population, 40 percent of global GDP and more than 25 percent of global trade.
Alongside Iran, the bloc includes Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, countries with sharply differing positions on the war launched by the United States and Israel in February. UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi are also attending, while Brazil is represented by Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira as President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva campaigns for a fourth term in October elections.
Why is the Gulf conflict a challenge for BRICS?
BRICS foreign ministers failed to agree on a joint statement when they met in New Delhi in May. Harsh V. Pant of India's Observer Research Foundation said the Gulf conflict will be the central fault line at this summit.
He added that BRICS expansion, once seen as an achievement, now looks like a significant constraint on the bloc.
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