After 7 years, Xi Jinping may visit India for BRICS meet with 400-member team

Chinese President Xi Jinping is likely to attend next month's BRICS Summit in Delhi with a delegation of around 400 officials, three sources told Reuters, in a potential sign of improving ties between India and China after years of tensions over their border dispute. Xi's visit, if confirmed, would be his first trip to India in seven years.India is scheduled to host the BRICS Summit on September 12 and 13, with his possible attendance expected to draw attention to efforts by the two sides to stabilise relations following the 2020 Galwan Valley clashes.Chinese officials are already working on hotel arrangements and security protocols for Xi's possible visit, one Indian source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.Two other Indian sources said Xi could be accompanied by around 400 officials, more than twice the fewer than 200 officials who travelled with him on his last visit to India in 2019. The development comes as National Security Advisor Ajit Doval is currently in Beijing for talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the India-China boundary issue. Doval began his visit on Monday for the latest round of talks on the border issue.Xi's possible India visit and Doval's ongoing talks come at a time when both countries are seeking to stabilise ties while continuing to manage differences over the border and regional security. The final decision on Xi's travel plans, as well as the agenda for any possible bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has not yet been made, sources said.The Chinese Foreign Ministry said Beijing attaches "great importance to and actively participates in BRICS cooperation" and supports India, the current chair, in successfully hosting this year's summit. "We currently have no information available to provide on Xi's possible visit," the ministry said.Xi did not attend last year's BRICS summit in Brazil. He, however, attended the 2023 edition in South Africa's Johannesburg.India's Ministry of External Affairs did not comment on Xi's possible visit to India.INDIA-CHINA BORDER TENSIONSIndia and China share a roughly 3,800-km border in the Himalayas. Relations deteriorated sharply after deadly clashes in Galwan Valley in 2020 in which 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers were killed.The clashes triggered a four-year military standoff before the two sides reached a disengagement agreement in October 2024. However, tensions have not completely disappeared.India said on August 12 that maintaining peace and tranquillity along the border was critical to improving bilateral ties after reports that Indian and Chinese army patrols had come face-to-face in late July near a remote border area in Arunachal Pradesh.China has repeatedly claimed Arunachal Pradesh as its own. India has maintained time and again that the state remains an integral part of the country and has marked 27 locations on its official maps.Against this backdrop, Doval's talks in Beijing are expected to focus on the boundary issue and ways to maintain stability along the border.Xi's potential visit would therefore carry significance beyond the BRICS agenda, as New Delhi and Beijing seek to rebuild engagement while managing their long-standing strategic differences.- Ends(with inputs from Reuters)Published By: Prateek ChakrabortyPublished On: Aug 25, 2026 14:15 IST