What motivated Xi Jinping's visit to India after seven years?

Xi Jinping's visit to India is motivated by the need to advance bilateral ties and address ongoing border tensions, particularly in the context of the 18th BRICS Leaders’ Summit.

How have India-China relations evolved since the 2020 border standoff?

Since the 2020 border standoff, India and China have taken steps toward normalisation, including resuming direct flights and reviving the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, though issues like border tensions and trade imbalance persist.

What are the key agenda items for the Modi-Xi meeting during the BRICS Summit?

The key agenda items for the Modi-Xi meeting include assessing progress in normalising bilateral ties, addressing the long-standing border dispute, and discussing concerns over China's visa restrictions and major infrastructure projects impacting India.

Xi Jinping in India after 7 years, set to meet PM Modi today

Xi Jinping arrived in India for the Brics Summit after seven years and is set to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday amid efforts to normalise ties.

Updated on: Sep 12, 2026, 14:58:27 IST

By Rezaul H Laskar

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Chinese President Xi Jinping travelled to India on Saturday for the first time in seven years to attend the Brics Summit, setting the stage for bilateral talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to advance the normalisation of ties amid lingering tensions on the border.

**EDS: THIRD PARTY IMAGE** In this screengrab from a video posted on Sept. 12, 2026, Prime Minister Narendra Modi receives Chinese President Xi Jinping before the 18th BRICS Summit, at Bharat Mandapam, in New Delhi. (@NarendraModi/YT via PTI Photo) (PTI09_12_2026_000145B) (@NarendraModi)

Xi, who last visited the Indian capital in 2014, was received at the airport by minister of state for commerce Jitin Prasada. External affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India looks forward to constructive discussions with China as Brics advances cooperation and contributes to a more balanced, representative and multipolar world.

The leaders of India and China have not made any bilateral visits since 2020, when relations plummeted to their lowest point since the 1962 border war because of a face-off between troops of the two sides in Ladakh. Xi last travelled to India in 2019 for an informal summit with Modi, months before the standoff began and continued for more than four years.

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Xi and Modi are set to meet on Saturday evening to assess the progress made by the two sides in addressing the dragging border dispute and normalising bilateral ties since they reached an understanding in October 2024 on disengagement of troops at all “friction points” in Ladakh sector of the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Even as the process of de-escalation and withdrawal of troops to peacetime locations in Ladakh sector remains incomplete, fresh tensions emerged in the Arunachal Pradesh sector after face-offs between troops during July and August.

The talks between Xi and Modi will be an opportunity to take stock of several rounds of dialogue between the Special Representatives on the border issue, the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) and senior military commanders. India and China held the first round of talks between military commanders in the eastern sector on September 6 and 7.

People familiar with the matter said the Indian side is also expected to raise a range of concerns, including China’s visa curbs for Indian businesspeople, export restrictions on critical machinery and commodities such as fertilisers, and the yawning imbalance in two-way trade. Since Xi’s last visit, India-China trade has grown from about $93 billion in 2019 to $127 billion in 2025, while India’s trade deficit has risen from $57 billion to almost $100 billion in the same period.

The two sides, however, have made progress in resuming direct flights, reviving the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra and restarting border trade through three designated points.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rezaul H Laskar
Rezaul Hasan Laskar is Foreign Editor with the Hindustan Times, which he joined in 2015. He began as a journalist in his hometown of Shillong in northeast India and has worked in newspapers and wire services over the years. He moved to New Delhi in 1997 and initially focused on defence, national security, Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast, while also working of foreign policy and international relations. He has been part of the media delegation accompanying PMs on foreign visits and has reported from destinations ranging from Tibet to Ukraine. Between 2007 and 2013, he was the Press Trust of India correspondent in Pakistan, one of only two Indian journalists allowed to report from the country. He extensively covered Pakistan’s domestic politics and the life of the common people, as well as the fallout of the 2008 Mumbai attacks on India-Pakistan relations and the subsequent trial in Pakistan of the suspects involved in the attack. As part of his reportage in Pakistan, he travelled the breadth of the country, from the Swat Valley to Balochistan. Reza’s first gig in journalism was writing a weekly music column, and music – especially classic rock – remains a keen interest. He is also a movie buff and a keen photographer.Read More

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