New Delhi, July 31: Chinese President Xi Jinping is likely to visit India in September to attend the BRICS Summit scheduled to be held in New Delhi on September 12 and 13, according to diplomatic sources. However, neither India nor China has officially confirmed the visit.
If the visit takes place, it will mark Xi’s first trip to India since the Galwan Valley clash in 2020, which significantly strained bilateral relations.
Xi Jinping last visited India in October 2019. Since the military confrontation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh in 2020, India and China have held several rounds of military and diplomatic talks to ease border tensions.
According to diplomatic sources, bilateral engagement could gather pace ahead of the summit. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval is expected to visit China, while a meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on India China border affairs is also likely to take place.
A meeting between the Special Representatives on the boundary issue is also expected soon, following the recent agreement by both countries to establish a new expert group and working group to address border related issues.
If Xi Jinping’s visit is finalised, he is expected to hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit. Discussions are likely to cover the border dispute, regional security, bilateral trade, and economic cooperation.
As of now, both New Delhi and Beijing have not issued any official statement confirming the proposed visit.
