China’s President Xi Jinping could travel to New Delhi for the BRICS Summit 2026 in September, potentially setting the stage for another meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Beijing has not formally confirmed Xi’s participation, but reports cited in the supplied source indicate that preparations are underway for a possible visit.
If Xi does travel to India, the meeting would be significant for both bilateral relations and the wider geopolitical landscape. It would be his first visit to India in nearly seven years and potentially the third meeting between Xi and Modi since the two countries began rebuilding political engagement after the prolonged freeze that followed the 2020 border crisis.
Why a Modi-Xi Meeting in Delhi Matters
A possible Modi-Xi meeting in New Delhi would reflect the gradual shift in India-China relations over the past two years. For almost five years after the Galwan clash, structured political engagement between the two leaders remained absent.
That changed in October 2024, when Modi and Xi met on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Kazan following an understanding between India and China on border patrolling arrangements.
Another important development came in August 2025, when Modi travelled to Tianjin for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit. The visit marked his first trip to China in seven years and indicated that both sides were prepared to move beyond immediate crisis management and reopen wider channels of political dialogue.
A Xi visit to New Delhi in September would therefore complete a notable sequence of high-level engagement. Three leader-level meetings in less than two years would suggest that both governments see sustained communication as useful for managing their differences.
However, such engagement would not mean that the underlying disputes between India and China have disappeared. The border question remains unresolved and strategic competition continues. The emerging approach instead appears focused on maintaining stability while keeping political and diplomatic channels open.
BRICS Summit Could Carry a Wider Geopolitical Message
The significance of a Modi-Xi meeting would extend beyond India-China relations. A high-profile meeting in New Delhi could also underline India’s approach to a rapidly changing global order shaped by trade disputes, major-power competition and uncertainty over the direction of US policy.
Modi, Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin appearing together at the 2025 SCO gathering in Tianjin had already attracted international attention. A similar image from the BRICS Summit in New Delhi could reinforce the broader idea of a more multipolar international system.
For India, this fits with its emphasis on strategic autonomy. New Delhi has continued to maintain relationships with different global power centres rather than relying exclusively on one major partnership.
A possible meeting with Xi should therefore not automatically be interpreted as India moving away from the United States. Instead, it would underline India’s effort to preserve strategic flexibility and engage with multiple powers at a time of geopolitical uncertainty.
US Policy Has Added to the Strategic Debate
Changes in the global economic and strategic environment have also contributed to the discussion around India-China ties. Concerns about US tariffs, protectionism and a more transactional approach to international economic relations have encouraged debate in India over the reliability of global partnerships and supply chains.
The supplied source also points to questions over whether Washington’s attention could become divided across different regions and priorities. Against this backdrop, some sections of India’s policy establishment have argued for maintaining greater flexibility rather than defining the country’s strategy primarily through competition with China.
That has helped create space for the argument that stabilising relations with Beijing can serve India’s practical interests without removing the strategic differences between the two countries.
Economic Ties Are Again Becoming Important
Economic considerations are another important part of the changing relationship. Following the 2020 border crisis, India introduced tighter scrutiny of investments from neighbouring countries through Press Note 3, reflecting concerns over economic dependence and national security.
The approach has since shown signs of adjustment. According to the supplied material, India eased certain investment restrictions earlier this year and introduced mechanisms intended to facilitate approvals in selected sectors.
The shift is linked to India’s ambitions to expand manufacturing, strengthen supply chains and build industrial capacity. Chinese capital, components, technology and production networks can play a role in those objectives, although security considerations remain important.
The discussion has consequently moved from simply restricting Chinese participation towards determining where such participation can support India’s economic priorities while protecting national interests.
A potential Modi-Xi meeting in New Delhi could provide additional reassurance to businesses and investors that the political environment between the two countries is becoming more stable and predictable.
Chinese Export Controls Highlight Supply Chain Concerns
Trade and investment are only part of the economic equation. China’s role in global manufacturing and its controls involving critical materials, industrial equipment and rare-earth-related products have highlighted the dependence of many economies on Chinese supply chains.
India has also faced concerns over access to certain industrial inputs. The supplied material cites delays involving specialised equipment such as tunnel-boring machines as one example of how geopolitical tensions can have practical economic consequences.
Although China has not dismantled its export control framework, indications of greater flexibility in some areas and engagement with trading partners over supply-chain concerns have added another reason for India to keep communication channels open.
The broader challenge for policymakers is increasingly one of managing geopolitical competition alongside economic interdependence. The two can no longer be treated as entirely separate issues.
Border Stability Has Opened Space for Dialogue
The border remains the central issue in India-China relations. Progress in political and economic engagement depends heavily on maintaining relative stability along the Line of Actual Control.
The understandings reached over the past two years have not resolved the broader border dispute, but they have reduced immediate tensions and created room for wider diplomatic engagement.
That has been accompanied by increased contact between senior officials. The supplied material highlights Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri’s visit to Beijing, discussions involving National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and expanding institutional communication between the two countries.
A visit by Xi to New Delhi would represent the most prominent expression yet of this renewed high-level engagement.
India-China Relations Remain Cautious Despite Thaw
Any improvement in India-China ties should not be mistaken for a complete normalisation of relations. Strategic distrust remains, competition in Asia continues and the border dispute has not been resolved.
What appears to have changed is the nature of the conversation. Military tensions and diplomatic freezes no longer dominate every aspect of the relationship. Instead, discussions are increasingly extending to investment rules, trade, supply chains, summit diplomacy and regular political engagement.
This shift reflects a shared interest in managing differences at a time when both countries are dealing with wider economic uncertainty and geopolitical change.
What a Xi Visit to New Delhi Could Mean
If Xi Jinping attends the BRICS Summit 2026 in New Delhi and meets Modi, the encounter would carry significance well beyond another diplomatic meeting. It could become another milestone in the gradual rebuilding of one of Asia’s most consequential bilateral relationships.
For India, the event would also reinforce its broader foreign-policy approach: maintaining engagement with several major power centres while avoiding dependence on any single bloc.
For now, however, Xi’s participation remains unconfirmed by Beijing. If the visit materialises, the Modi-Xi meeting will be closely watched for what it says about the future direction of India-China relations and India’s role in an increasingly multipolar world.
