Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit India over the weekend to attend the BRICS summit in New Delhi, the Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed Thursday. It would be his first visit to India since 2019.
"At the invitation of Prime Minister of the Republic of India Narendra Modi, President Xi Jinping will attend the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi from September 12 to 13," the ministry said in a post on X.
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.
President Xi will visit India to attend the BRICS summit, the state-run Xinhua news agency also reported.
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 in office.
He later visited India in 2016 to take part in the BRICS summit in Goa.
Xi's visit would mark the biggest step yet in a cautious thaw between the rival neighbours, six years after a deadly military clash along their disputed Himalayan border.
Ties between the nuclear-armed Asian giants have been warming since the deadly 2020 border clash, with flights, visas and high-level contacts gradually being restored.
However, deep mistrust remains, with their contested frontier, a widening trade deficit and strategic rivalry continuing to complicate ties.
The India-China relationship came under severe strain following the 2020 Galwan Valley clash and the prolonged military standoff in eastern Ladakh. However, the two sides have since taken several steps aimed at stabilising ties.
A visit by Xi could provide an opportunity for a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the summit to discuss measures to further stabilise and develop bilateral ties.
Modi and Xi last met in August 2025 on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Tianjin.
The two countries have also sparred over Arunachal Pradesh's geographical names. New Delhi recently rejected China's criticism of India's decision to formally identify 27 places and geographical features in Arunachal Pradesh by their standard names.
India reiterated that Arunachal Pradesh is an "inalienable and integral" part of the country and said no action by China could alter that reality.
China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of what it calls South Tibet and has periodically released its own set of names for places in the state since 2017. India has consistently rejected the claims and described China's attempts to rename places in the region as "vain and preposterous".
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.
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.
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.
(With inputs from PTI, AP)