Chinese President Xi Jinping is making his first visit to India in seven years, marking a potentially important moment in relations between the world’s two most populous major economies after years of tension following their deadly Himalayan border confrontation.
Xi and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are expected to hold bilateral talks on Saturday on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in New Delhi.
China’s Foreign Ministry said the two governments were arranging the meeting and that Beijing wanted to approach relations with India from a strategic and long-term perspective.
The talks come after several years of gradual efforts to stabilise relations following the 2020 Galwan Valley confrontation.
Border Clash Transformed Relations
At least 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese troops were killed during hand-to-hand fighting in Galwan Valley in 2020, the first deadly confrontation between the two countries’ militaries since 1975.
The clash dramatically changed relations.
India increased scrutiny of Chinese investment, banned popular Chinese mobile applications, tightened business visa requirements and suspended direct passenger flights.
China also restricted some people-to-people exchanges.
The two countries eventually reached a military disengagement agreement in October 2024, with troops pulling back from the remaining confrontation points by the end of that year.
Business Relations Recover
Economic relations have subsequently improved.
India has resumed direct flights to China, accelerated approvals for business visas and eased some restrictions affecting Chinese equipment.
Despite years of political tensions, economic dependence remains substantial.
China was India’s largest source of imports during the 2025/26 financial year, supplying about $132 billion worth of goods, including more than 100 products considered critical to Indian manufacturing.
That dependence creates an important economic incentive for stabilising relations.
Major Disputes Remain
A political reset does not mean the two countries have resolved their disagreements.
Both continue to maintain substantial military deployments along their roughly 3,800-kilometre disputed Himalayan border.
China also claims India’s Arunachal Pradesh as part of what Beijing calls southern Tibet, while India rejects the claim.
Security concerns extend beyond the border.
India remains cautious about Chinese investment in defence, telecommunications, finance and other strategically sensitive sectors.
China’s close military relationship with Pakistan further complicates the situation.
The Modi-Xi meeting should therefore be viewed as an attempt to manage competition rather than eliminate it.
But after the collapse in relations that followed Galwan, the fact that Xi is returning to New Delhi at all represents a significant diplomatic shift.
For two nuclear-armed neighbours representing a huge share of the global economy and population, even a controlled rivalry could be considerably more consequential than continued confrontation.
