Chinese President Xi Jinping left Beijing on Saturday for the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi, his first visit to India in seven years. Delhi has tightened security around Bharat Mandapam, with 15,000 police personnel and 200 paramilitary companies on duty.
Cover photo: Reuters, via The Hindu
China’s official Xinhua news agency said Xi left for India at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. LiveMint reported he is expected to land in Delhi around 12:25 pm. His last visit was in October 2019, for the informal summit with Modi at Mamallapuram near Chennai.
China’s ambassador to India, Xu Feihong, said Beijing and New Delhi are arranging a bilateral meeting between Xi and Modi, the third year in a row the two leaders would meet after Kazan and Tianjin. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian already held talks with Modi on Friday.
The Hindu and The Indian Express reported that central Delhi has been placed under heavy security for the two-day summit. Police have asked commuters to ignore false claims of a city-wide bandh. Negotiators were still working overnight on the “Delhi Declaration”, with one paragraph on the war in Iran unresolved, The Hindu said.
Reporting: The Hindu, LiveMint, India Today, The Indian Express.
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