BRICS meets in India: What’s on the agenda, why it matters

New Delhi, September 12 — Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in India on Saturday for a Brics summit alongside leaders from India, Russia and Iran. The conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, global trade turbulence and energy security issues will dominate the two-day meeting of the 11-nation bloc. Xi's visit marks his first to neighboring India since 2019 and the biggest step yet in a cautious thaw between the nuclear-armed rivals.

He received a red-carpet welcome, with an honor guard of soldiers and traditional dancers in colorful attire. Tensions between India and China remain, with their disputed Tibetan border unresolved and both sides maintaining heavy military deployments. Xi is expected to hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi later on Saturday, aiming for an "early and substantial harvest" on the border issue.

Despite deep mistrust, ties between the two nations have improved through restored flights, visas and high-level contacts. Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi embraced Russian President Vladimir Putin before talks, as Modi and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also met. The Brics summit, created in 2009 to give major emerging economies greater influence in Western-dominated institutions, includes Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, countries with differing stances on the US-led war in February.

Brics foreign ministers have been unable to agree on a joint statement, with the Gulf conflict expected to be the central fault line.