Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit India on Saturday for the BRICS summit, the country’s foreign ministry announced on Thursday. This will be the Chinese President’s first trip to the country in seven years. Xi is also expected to hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

At the invitation of Prime Minister of the Republic of India Narendra Modi, President Xi Jinping will attend the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi from September 12 to 13. pic.twitter.com/abKPwOyqRm

— CHINA MFA Spokesperson 中国外交部发言人 (@MFA_China) September 10, 2026

Security has been stepped up at hotels in Delhi’s Chanakyapuri ahead of the summit, with the presidents of China and Russia scheduled to arrive in the capital later this week, previously.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will reportedly arrive in India on September 11. Both leaders are expected to land at the Air Force Station in Palam before proceeding to hotels in the Chanakyapuri area.

“Security teams from China and Russia have already arrived at the hotels where the leaders are expected to stay.

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Delhi police personnel deploy ahead of the BRICS Summit 2026 near Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi.

These teams are carrying advanced weapons and security equipment. Security personnel have been deployed from the floors where the presidents will stay to the rooftops and ground floors of the hotels,” a source told .

Why Xi Jinping’s India visit is significant

The China President’s visit to India is expected to be a high-profile diplomatic engagement. It will have implications for the ongoing efforts to stabilise bilateral ties between the two Asian powers. But amid the West Asia conflict and the Russia-Ukraine war, BRICS’ role assumes even more significance.

As the current BRICS chair, India will host the 18th BRICS Summit on September 12 and 13 in New Delhi.

Xi last visited India in 2019 for an informal summit with Modi in Mamallapuram near Chennai.

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Xi last visited India in 2019 for an informal summit with Modi in Mamallapuram near Chennai.

He had earlier visited Goa in 2016 to attend the BRICS summit and made his first visit to India in September 2014, when he held extensive talks with Modi. The 2014 visit came during the first terms of both leaders in office.

He later visited India in 2016 to take part in the BRICS summit in Goa.

With inputs from PTI