New Delhi: Chinese President Xi Jinping will arrive in New Delhi on Saturday morning for the BRICS Leaders’ Summit, accompanied by a large delegation of officials and business leaders, ThePrint has learnt.
Xi will attend the summit and also hold a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi before leaving the following morning.
Government sources said preparations for Xi’s visit were complete. The Chinese Foreign Ministry however on Thursday said it did not have any official information about Xi’s proposed India visit.
Sources said there was still time for Beijing to make a formal announcement and that the itinerary was being finalised by the Chinese side.
The Chinese embassy has also made arrangements at a five-star hotel near the Chanakyapuri diplomatic area for Xi’s visit, they said.
This will be Xi’s first trip to India in seven years and comes against the backdrop of a gradual thaw in ties between the two countries after tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) that erupted in 2020.
Sources said that the bilateral meeting is likely to be held at Bharat Mandapam, where the BRICS summit is set to take place, rather than Hyderabad House. This would help avoid the additional travel time of moving the two leaders between the summit venue and central Delhi, sources said.
The proposed visit comes at a time when India and China are attempting to stabilise ties while simultaneously dealing with unresolved differences over the boundary, trade and market access.
Large Chinese delegation, economic focus
Xi is expected to bring a sizeable delegation of government officials and business leaders, reflecting Beijing’s interest in deepening economic engagement with India.
The economic dimension assumes significance because New Delhi has taken several steps this year to selectively ease restrictions on Chinese investment, even as security scrutiny of Chinese companies remains stringent.
In March this year, the Modi government approved a relaxation in the rules for certain minority investments from countries sharing land borders with India, including China. The changes were aimed at facilitating investment while retaining safeguards against Chinese control of Indian companies.
This was a bid to ease an April 2020 move under which India amended its foreign direct investment policy, making prior government approval mandatory for investment from countries sharing land borders with India.
The shift in March has since been accompanied by a series of sector-specific developments.
In June, the government allowed four Chinese-linked power-equipment companies with manufacturing operations in India to participate in government tenders for critical power projects. The exemption, valid for two years, covered TBEA Energy, Nanjing Electric India, New Northeast Electric India and Taikai Electric (India).
Another significant development has been government approval for a manufacturing partnership between Indian electronics company Dixon Technologies and Chinese smartphone maker Vivo.
The move is particularly significant because electronics manufacturing is one of the areas where India wants to expand domestic production while remaining dependent on Chinese companies and supply chains for technology, components and manufacturing expertise.
But the opening has not been across the board.
India has rejected a proposal from Ant Group-owned Alipay to connect with India’s digital payments ecosystem, citing security concerns, according to Reuters.
On Wednesday, the Serious Fraud Investigation Office recommended a detailed investigation into Xiaomi’s India operations, including examination of fund flows and compliance with foreign-investment rules.
Sources explained that India is moving from a blanket restriction on Chinese investment towards screening Chinese capital according to ownership, sector and strategic sensitivity.
So while Chinese investment in electronics and manufacturing is becoming easier and Chinese participation in areas where India faces capacity constraints, such as power equipment, is being selectively permitted, large Chinese-controlled investments, particularly in strategic sectors, continue to face significant scrutiny.
From Galwan to cautious economic engagement
Xi’s visit would come nearly two years after India and China reached an agreement in October 2024 on patrolling arrangements in eastern Ladakh, leading to disengagement at the remaining friction points like Depsang Plains and Chushul.
That led to a broader effort to stabilise bilateral ties.
Modi and Xi had met on the margins of the BRICS summit in Kazan in October 2024, their first formal bilateral meeting since the Galwan clash.
Since then, both countries have engaged in high-level political engagement, revived direct flights and eased visa restrictions.
However, the boundary dispute remains unresolved and both sides continue to maintain substantial military deployments along the LAC.
Incidentally, India and China held two rounds of Corps Commander-level talks in the Eastern Sector in the first week of September, including a meeting Monday, amid continuing tensions in the general area of Arunachal Pradesh’s Taksing.
This is the first set of Corps Commander-level meetings that have taken place in the Eastern Sector, a practice that was established in the Western sector in 2020 following the Galwan clash.
Such a mechanism has now also been agreed upon for the middle sector.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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