Xi Jinping to Attend 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi, Boosting India-China Relations

Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the 18th BRICS summit in New Delhi from Saturday to Sunday, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said on Thursday. Xi's visit, the first to India in seven years at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is being billed as a major opportunity to advance India-China relations. Chinese state-run Global Times quoted Indian and Chinese experts as openly praising the visit and India's stance, which is also being discussed in the Indian media. Global Times reported that reports in India describe the visit as a large-scale diplomatic initiative that will have an impact on efforts to stabilize relations between the two Asian powers. Indian think tank chief Mohammad Saqib said the Chinese president's visit has greatly enhanced the importance of the BRICS summit. While Chyan Fung of Tsinghua University said that India sees the meeting as a great opportunity to improve relations and hope for bilateral meetings between the two leaders, preparations for the conference have also been ramped up with posters and posters in Delhi.