Modi and Xi Meet on BRICS Sidelines, Marking a High Point in India-China Detente

During the BRICS leaders’ summit in September 2026, Chinese President Xi Jinping travelled to New Delhi for a 24-hour visit, his first to India in seven years. While the summit’s formal agenda focused on the grouping’s collective agenda, Xi and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines. Both leaders pledged to deepen commercial and cultural cooperation, and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi reported that the talks covered long-term strategic issues, resulting in “the most important consensus” that the two nations should act as partners rather than rivals.

Foreign Policy

India-China ties have oscillated between cooperation and confrontation. A deadly border clash in Ladakh in 2020 plunged relations into crisis, but a new border agreement in October 2024 began easing tensions. Subsequent steps included resuming direct air flights and pledges to boost trade. In March 2025, Modi described cooperation with China as “essential” for global stability. Despite these overtures, the two countries continue to dispute roughly 15,000 square miles (about the size of Greece) along their shared border and hold opposing positions on Taiwan, Tibet, and other regional issues.

Foreign Policy

Both nations are major civilizational powers with sizable economies, and their rivalry is shaped by geography and geopolitics. Trade between India and China remains robust, providing a strong incentive for deeper economic ties. Additionally, the two countries seek to hedge against the impact of U.S. tariffs, which have affected both economies, and to reduce diplomatic friction within the BRICS framework, which both view as a platform for greater global influence. Nonetheless, lingering mistrust—exemplified by China’s close alliance with India’s regional rival Pakistan and recent instances of Pakistani forces employing Chinese weaponry—continues to limit the scope of rapprochement.

Foreign Policy

• Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the bilateral meeting addressed “long-term, strategic issues” and that the two sides reached a consensus to be partners, not rivals, aiming to avoid “stagnation or backsliding” in their relationship.

Foreign Policy

While the meeting underscores a momentary thaw and signals mutual interest in expanding trade and diplomatic coordination, analysts note that structural disputes and strategic competition are likely to re-emerge. The durability of the partnership will depend on how both governments manage border disagreements, regional alliances, and external pressures such as U.S. trade policies.

Foreign Policy