China, India arranging for Xi-Modi meeting

China and India are making arrangements for a meeting between President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the 18th BRICS Summit 2026 in New Delhi, a move experts said reflects continued efforts by the two Asian neighbors to stabilize and improve relations.

"China stands ready to work with India, under the strategic guidance of the two leaders, to approach and handle bilateral relations from a strategic and long-term perspective," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Friday at a regular news briefing in Beijing.

The two countries should strengthen communication, expand cooperation, properly manage their differences, and become good-neighborly friends and partners who contribute to each other's success, she said.

This will be the third consecutive year for Xi and Modi to hold talks, following their meetings in Russia's Kazan and China's Tianjin, the spokeswoman added.

When he met Modi in Tianjin, Xi said a "cooperative pas de deux of the dragon and the elephant" should be the right choice for the two countries.

Lin Minwang, a professor of South Asian studies and vice-dean of Fudan University's Institute of International Studies in Shanghai, said the regularity of high-level engagement indicates that bilateral ties are gradually returning to a more normal and stable track.

"The leaders are now able to meet almost every year. The two countries' special representatives on the boundary question have maintained regular talks since 2024, and major bilateral mechanisms are gradually resuming," Lin said.

During the 25th round of talks between the special representatives in Beijing in August, the two sides reaffirmed their commitment to following the guidance of the two leaders and maintaining peace and tranquility in border areas, in order to create favorable conditions for the sound and steady development of bilateral relations. According to China's General Administration of Customs, the value of two-way trade in goods exceeded $155 billion in 2025, up 12.4 percent year-on-year.

In an article published on Monday in The Hindu newspaper, China's Ambassador to India Xu Feihong said that five direct flight routes between the Chinese mainland and India have been resumed and, after a six-year suspension, border trade has also reopened.

Lin, from Fudan University, said a leaders' meeting will send a strong signal to the public in both countries that their governments intend to continue improving relations.

"It also gives officials at the working level a clear direction that the two sides are seeking greater cooperation and the stable management of differences, rather than confrontation," he said.

Su Xiaohui, director of the Department for Developing Countries Studies at the China Institute of International Studies, noted that the expected meeting shows the level of importance China and India — two major developing countries — attach to each other, as well as the steady improvement in bilateral relations.

"The international community will watch how China and India continue to properly manage their differences and pursue the goal of common development," said Su.