India
oh-Madhuri Adnal
Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to visit India this week for the BRICS summit, his first trip to the country in seven years. His visit is likely to draw attention to a possible meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi as India and China try to put years of tense relations behind them.
ET reported that Xi Jinping’s visit is expected to be officially announced later today. He is scheduled to attend the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi on September 12 and 13.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is visiting India to attend the BRICS summit in New Delhi on September 12-13. This is his first trip in seven years. A possible meeting is planned with Prime Minister Narendra Modi amid efforts to ease tensions.
Modi and Xi are expected to meet on the sidelines of the summit. Their meeting comes at a time when relations between the two countries have begun to improve, although some differences remain, especially on trade, security and strategic issues.
Xi last visited India in 2019, when he met Modi in Chennai for an informal summit. Relations between the two countries changed dramatically the following year after a deadly clash between Indian and Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh.
Twenty Indian soldiers and four Chinese soldiers were killed in the 2020 Galwan clash.
The standoff led to a long standoff along the Line of Actual Control and put political and economic ties between the two countries under severe strain.
There has been some movement in relations over the past two years, with India and China stepping up high-level contacts and holding talks to prevent further tensions along the border.
Both sides are working to stabilize the situation along the Line of Actual Control and are also trying to restore some diplomatic and economic relations that have slowed down since the clashes in Ladakh.
Modi visited China last year and the two leaders also met briefly at a regional forum in Kyrgyzstan earlier this month.
Xi’s planned visit to New Delhi comes amid cautious interactions between the two countries.