NEW DELHI — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping are scheduled to hold talks on Saturday, Sept. 13, on the sidelines of the BRICS summit. This marks Xi's first visit to India in seven years, following years of military tension and efforts to stabilize relations.
The discussions follow a deadly military confrontation in June 2020 in the Galwan Valley, where Indian and Chinese troops engaged in hand-to-hand combat in the Ladakh region of the western Himalayas. The clash, the first fatal incident since 1975, killed at least 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese soldiers, according to Indian officials.
India and China share a roughly 3,800-kilometer frontier in the Himalayas, much of it undemarcated and disputed. The 2020 conflict erupted after Indian soldiers set fire to two tents and observation towers they said were built on their side of the border.
Following the clash, New Delhi increased scrutiny of Chinese investments, tightened vetting for business visas for Chinese citizens, and banned popular Chinese mobile applications. India also severed direct passenger air links. Beijing responded by restricting people-to-people exchanges and limiting travel for journalists and business professionals.
A disengagement pact reached in October 2024 led both sides to withdraw troops from five disputed locations. By December, troops had withdrawn from the final two locations, fulfilling the agreement's conditions to return to the 2020 troop positions.
Trade and business ties have since improved. New Delhi has resumed direct flights to China, reduced bureaucratic hurdles for Chinese business visas, and eased restrictions on purchasing Chinese equipment. China was India's largest source of imports in fiscal year 2025-26, supplying goods valued at $132 billion, including more than 100 products deemed critical for Indian manufacturing.
Yet substantial military deployments remain along the frontier on both sides, and intermittent tensions persist in border regions. Disputes frequently arise over India's northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, which Beijing claims as part of southern Tibet and calls Zangnan.
China's support for Pakistan during last year's military conflict with India also strains bilateral relations. Pakistan relied heavily on Chinese fighter jets and missiles during four days of fighting.
Industry executives say trade ties remain fragile due to visa delays and bottlenecks in securing Chinese equipment and components critical for electronics and infrastructure development. India also continues to restrict Chinese investment in sectors it considers sensitive for national security, including finance, defense, and telecommunications.
