World Leaders Including Xi and Putin Arrive in Delhi for 18th BRICS Summit

World leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, have arrived in New Delhi for the 18th BRICS summit this weekend. Other confirmed attendees feature Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, while Brazil will be represented at the ministerial level.

The two-day summit faces a delicate moment as ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East complicate efforts to produce a unified closing declaration. Alongside the multilateral meetings, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to hold a bilateral meeting with President Putin to discuss defence cooperation and other matters.

As leaders arrive, India has implemented extensive security arrangements, traffic advisories, and access restrictions across the capital. Analysts note that President Xi’s presence marks a notable moment in the recent thaw in relations between India and China following their 2020 border standoff, despite unresolved business and trade tensions.