Prime Minister Narendra Modi held bilateral talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in New Delhi on Saturday, hours after BRICS member nations unanimously adopted the New Delhi Declaration 2026, with both leaders striking a notably warm tone as they looked to build on the momentum of India’s chairship of the bloc.
BRICS Summit 2026 Live Latest News: What Happened Before The Modi-Xi Meeting?
The bilateral talks came shortly after Modi announced that BRICS had adopted the New Delhi Declaration 2026 with full consensus among all 11 member states, a significant diplomatic achievement given the sharply differing positions held by countries such as Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates over the ongoing conflict in West Asia.
Addressing the summit before the declaration’s adoption, Modi described the text as one that encapsulates the essence of our discussions, framing it as a reflection of the bloc’s shared perspective on major global and regional issues, before it was formally endorsed without opposition.
#WATCH | Delhi: PM Narendra Modi holds a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of BRICS Summit 2026.
(Video: DD News) pic.twitter.com/Du0myPd5Uo
— ANI (@ANI) September 12, 2026
BRICS Summit 2026 Live Latest News: What Did Modi Say To Xi?
Opening the bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the summit, Modi welcomed Xi warmly, telling him, “It gives me great pleasure to extend a warm welcome to you,” according to the news agency ANI.
He went on to thank Xi for China’s role in supporting India’s chairship of BRICS over the past year, saying he wished to express his gratitude for the support and cooperation received from China during India’s BRICS chairmanship, before turning to the substance of the bilateral agenda between the two countries.
BRICS Summit 2026 Live Latest News: How Did Xi Respond?
In his own remarks, Xi struck a similarly cooperative note, saying that China and India can learn from each other’s strengths and achieve shared development.
He also called on both countries to join hands in pursuing what he described as high-quality development of greater BRICS cooperation, comments that come amid a broader, if cautious, thaw in relations between the two neighbours following years of tension along their disputed Himalayan border. The meeting marked Xi’s first visit to India in nearly seven years.
BRICS Summit 2026 Live Latest News: What Does The New Delhi Declaration Say?
The declaration adopted earlier in the day condemns what it broadly terms all forms of aggression without naming any specific country, according to an agency report, while expressing deep concern over the continued escalation of tensions in West Asia and calling on all parties to exercise maximum restraint.
The text also raises alarm over growing risks of nuclear danger and conflict, reiterating the need to strengthen global systems of disarmament, arms control and non-proliferation, and reaffirms support for existing nuclear-weapon-free zones, including calls to accelerate efforts towards establishing such a zone across the Middle East. Separately, the declaration calls for the swift finalisation of a Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism under the United Nations framework, alongside coordinated action against all UN-designated terrorist entities.
BRICS Summit 2026 Live Latest News: Why Does This Declaration Matter?
Securing unanimous agreement on the declaration represents a marked turnaround from earlier setbacks this year, when a BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting in May failed to produce a joint statement for the first time in the bloc’s history amid unresolved differences between Iran and the UAE.
Officials have credited sustained Indian-led negotiations, which reportedly continued into the early hours of Saturday morning, with bridging those gaps in time for this weekend’s summit.
Coming as BRICS marks the 20th anniversary of its founding, the declaration’s adoption, followed swiftly by the high-profile Modi-Xi meeting, is being read in New Delhi as evidence that India’s chairship has succeeded in holding together an increasingly large and diplomatically complex grouping, even as sharp divisions persist beneath the surface on issues ranging from the war in West Asia to the wider global response to nuclear proliferation.
