Xi Jinping to Attend BRICS Summit in New Delhi, Ending Diplomatic Suspense

Chinese President Xi Jinping will travel to New Delhi this weekend for the 18th BRICS Summit, Beijing's foreign ministry said, ending days of uncertainty over whether he would make the trip.

The summit is scheduled for September 12 and 13. The confirmation came after a foreign ministry spokesperson, asked earlier in the day about the visit, said there was no information to share.

Xi's attendance marks his first visit to India in seven years. He last travelled to the country in 2019 for an informal summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Mamallapuram, near Chennai. His earlier visits were in 2014, during the first terms of both leaders, and in 2016 for a BRICS summit in Goa.

Relations between the two neighbours cooled sharply after the 2020 Galwan Valley border clashes, in which 20 Indian soldiers and an unspecified number of Chinese troops were killed. Ties have since improved, particularly following Modi's visit to China last year, as both countries navigate volatile relations with the United States.

New Delhi has eased some restrictions on Chinese investment imposed after the 2020 clashes, with a focus on electronics, capital goods and solar cells. Beijing's foreign ministry said Xi and Modi, who met briefly this month at a regional forum in Kyrgyzstan, view the two countries as "partners, not competitors" that offer opportunities rather than threats to each other's development.

At the same time, proposed investments by Chinese companies in India are drawing closer scrutiny from Beijing itself, including in areas involving sophisticated manufacturing and high-end technology.

Economic ties have nonetheless expanded. Bilateral trade reached a record $155 billion last year, up 12.4 per cent and more than double the $71.6 billion recorded a decade earlier, according to Chinese customs data. In the first seven months of this year, trade rose a further 23 per cent from the same period a year ago.