Xi Jinping To Arrive In India On September 12 To Attend BRICS Summit

China has yet to confirm who will lead its delegation to the BRICS Summit in New Delhi this weekend, with Beijing declining to say whether President Xi Jinping will attend the meeting.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Tuesday that Beijing places great importance on BRICS cooperation and backs India’s efforts to successfully host this year’s leaders’ summit, according to China’s state-run Global Times.

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Asked at a Chinese Foreign Ministry press briefing who would lead China's delegation, spokesperson Mao Ning said Beijing would release information if there was an update and asked reporters to stay tuned.

“We will release timely information if there is any update. Please stay tuned,” she said.

Xi is expected in Delhi, but China has not formally confirmed his participation. Reuters also reports that Xi is widely expected to attend and that the visit would be his first to India in seven years.

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United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will underscore the importance of multipolarity and the need to reform multilateral institutions, including the Security Council, to reflect contemporary realities when he addresses the BRICS Summit in India later this week.

Guterres will travel to New Delhi on Thursday to attend the 18th BRICS Summit, to be held on September 12–13 in New Delhi.

He has been invited to address the Open Session on September 13 on the theme, 'Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability: Shaping the Future for Inclusive Global Growth'.

“Security teams from China and Russia have already arrived at the hotels where the leaders are expected to stay. These teams are carrying advanced weapons and security equipment. Security personnel have been deployed from the floors where the presidents will stay to the rooftops and ground floors of the hotels,” a source told The Indian Express.

Delhi Police Special Cell has been entrusted with the Chinese President’s security arrangements. “At the hotel where the Russian President is expected to stay, an additional deputy commissioner of police and two assistant commissioners of police have been deployed in separate shifts,” Indian Express quoted.

The response comes as Delhi prepares for the arrival of several world leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to reports, Putin is expected to arrive on September 11, while Xi is expected in the capital on September 12.

Unlike Western democracies, which usually publish detailed, weeks-long advance itineraries for heads of state, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs rarely confirms a trip until days before it begins. In many cases, specific internal movements or domestic trips within China are only reported by state media after the leader has already arrived or even after the visit has concluded. For instance, even during major international events like the upcoming BRICS summit in India, Chinese officials routinely withhold final confirmation of President Xi Jinping's specific schedule until the last second.