China has officially confirmed that President Xi Jinping will visit New Delhi for the 18th BRICS Summit, scheduled for September 12 to 13.
The visit marks Xi’s first trip to India in seven years, since the informal 2019 summit with Prime Minister Modi in Mamallapuram.
Modi and Xi are expected to hold a bilateral meeting on September 12, their first in six years, according to diplomatic sources.
The summit will also see Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto in attendance.
Delhi will witness closures of schools, colleges, courts and offices in parts of the city on September 11 as part of summit preparations.
The BRICS grouping, comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, has expanded in recent years to include additional member nations.
This year’s summit is the 18th edition of the BRICS gathering, with India hosting the group’s leaders in New Delhi.
Security preparations for the summit have included anti-terror drills conducted by the National Security Guard in the lead-up to the event.
China’s confirmation of Xi’s attendance ends weeks of diplomatic speculation over whether the Chinese president would travel to India for the summit.
Xi Jinping last visited India in 2019 for an informal summit with Prime Minister Modi in Mamallapuram near Chennai, before India-China relations were strained by the 2020 border crisis.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto are among the other leaders expected to attend the summit.
Diplomatic sources indicate Modi and Xi are expected to hold bilateral talks on September 12, the opening day of the leaders’ summit.
This will be the first Modi-Xi bilateral meeting in six years, coming after a prolonged period of tension following the 2020 Galwan Valley border clash.
2026 BRICS meeting of ministers, New Delhi, PIB/Wikimedia Commons, GODL-India
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