China’s Xi heads to India for BRICS summit overshadowed by wars

Wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, along with global trade turbulence and energy security, are expected to dominate the summit.Published On 12 Sep 2026|Updated: a few seconds agoChinese President Xi Jinping has landed in New Delhi to attend a BRICS summit, alongside leaders from India, Russia and Iran, as wars, trade and energy test the divided grouping.Xi departed on Saturday for the 18th BRICS summit at the invitation of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua reported. His entourage includes Foreign Minister Wang Yi and high-ranking Chinese Communist Party official Cai Qi.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4China’s Xi visits Egypt’s el-Sisi: Why it matterslist 2 of 4Multipolarity gives middle powers more choices, but fewer guaranteeslist 3 of 4Next BRICS summit can get an Iran ceasefirelist 4 of 4Putin, Pezeshkian in India for BRICS summit clouded by Iran and Ukraine warend of listThe conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, along with global trade turbulence and energy security, are expected to dominate the two-day meeting of the 11-nation bloc.Xi’s visit, his first to India since 2019, will also be closely watched as the biggest step yet in the cautious thaw between the nuclear-armed rivals.The trip comes six years after a deadly 2020 military clash along their disputed Tibetan border, with ties gradually improving through restored flights, visas and high-level contacts.The underlying territorial dispute remains unresolved, and both sides retain heavy military deployments along their roughly 3,500-kilometre (2,175-mile) high-altitude border along Tibet.Beijing said on Friday that it was “ready to work with India … by strengthening communication, enhancing cooperation, and properly handling differences”.Xi is due to hold face-to-face talks with Modi later on Saturday, according to India’s Ministry of External Affairs.“They are looking for ‘early and substantial harvest’ when it comes to the border issue,” Pradeep Taneja, a China-India expert at the University of Melbourne, said, as reported by the AFP news agency. “You cannot have a buildup of your forces on the border … but at the same time say ‘we should continue to have people-to-people relations and economic relationships.'”