Xi Jinping gets red carpet at Brics summit amid thaw in India-China relations

Xi Jinping, right, is visiting India for the first time in seven years to attend the Brics summit. Photograph: Indian ministry of foreign affairs/EPAView image in fullscreenXi Jinping, right, is visiting India for the first time in seven years to attend the Brics summit. Photograph: Indian ministry of foreign affairs/EPAXi Jinping gets red carpet at Brics summit amid thaw in India-China relationsChinese president’s arrival in Delhi seen as step towards reconciliation after deadly 2020 military clash

The Chinese president, Xi Jinping, has received a red-carpet welcome in India for a summit of Brics developing nations, as regional rivals Beijing and Delhi make a public display of thawing relations while quietly competing to lead at a time of shaky US global dominance.

As Xi stepped off the plane, he was walked past an honour guard of Indian soldiers and traditional dancers in colourful dresses. Later on Saturday, he was due to attend a gala dinner for the two-day summit.

The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, had already been welcomed by the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, who is hosting one of the group’s most closely watched gatherings since its inception.

The summit marks Xi’s first visit to India in seven years and is seen as the biggest step towards reconciliation after a deadly 2020 military clash along the disputed Himalayan border, in which ‌20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers were killed.

Ties between the nuclear-armed Asian giants have been warming recently, with flights and high-level contacts gradually being restored. China was “willing” to work with India to properly manage differences and be “good neighbours and friends”, China’s foreign ministry said on Friday.

Leaders and diplomats have been convening in India for the annual gathering of the Brics grouping, named after five of its earliest members – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – that was conceived as a counterweight to western dominance.

This summit comes as wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, along with rising US-China tensions, test the bloc’s ability to find common ground.

Since its inception in 2009, Brics has expanded as a forum for major emerging economies to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The group now rivals the US-dominated G7 forum of advanced economies, accounting for half of the global population.

But its growth has also created new fractures and disunity – Iran was bombing Saudi Arabia and the UAE earlier this year, and Brics foreign ministers failed to agree on a joint statement when they met in Delhi in May.

On Saturday, the bloc managed to unanimously agree on the wording of a joint declaration that reiterated a commitment to peaceful resolution of international disputes “through dialogue, consultation and diplomacy”.

The “New Delhi declaration” ​called for “maximum restraint” in the Middle East, although it was worded so as not to call out member countries actively involved in conflicts.

Jiang Shixue, the vice-president of the expert committee of the China thinktank Council for BRICs cooperation (China), said the 11 members “cannot speak with one voice on many issues”.

“The only solution is to continuously strengthen political consensus,” he told the South China Morning Post.

Beijing and Delhi have differing views on the role of the group.