Chinese President Xi Jinping called on Brics member states on Saturday to oppose sovereignty violations and reject protectionism, speaking at a summit in India, Beijing’s state media reported.
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media → call → India
The conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, along with global trade turbulence and energy security, dominated the two-day meeting of the 11-nation bloc.
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conflicts → dominate → bloc
Xi told the gathering that Brics should “oppose violations of other countries’ sovereignty and interference in their internal affairs, [and] constructively participate in resolving hotspot issues,” according to state news agency Xinhua.
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Brics → tell → Xinhua
Other leaders attending the summit in New Delhi include Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, whose country has been at war since US-Israeli strikes against it on February 28.
“As the situation in the Middle East and the Gulf region continues to evolve, the war there has caused serious losses to people across the region,” Xi said, calling on countries to “uphold the authority of the United Nations” in his remarks, Xinhua reported.
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Xinhua → attend → remarks
On trade, the Chinese president urged countries to “reject all forms of protectionism” and “support the multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organisation at its core”.
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president → urge → core
The comments come less than two weeks before Xi’s expected visit to Washington, a major trade rival of Beijing.
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comments → come → Beijing
Earlier today, he arrived in New Delhi for the summit alongside leaders from India, Russia and Iran as wars, trade and energy test the divided grouping.
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wars → arrive → grouping
His visit is also being closely watched as his first to neighbouring India since 2019, and the biggest step yet in a cautious thaw between the nuclear-armed rivals.
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visit → watch → rivals
Xi was given a red-carpet welcome, with an honour guard of soldiers and traditional dancers in colourful dresses.
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Xi → give → dresses
His arrival comes six years after a deadly 2020 military clash along their disputed Tibetan border, with ties gradually improving through restored flights, visas and high-level contacts.
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ties → come → flights
Beijing said on Friday it was “ready to work with India … by strengthening communication, enhancing cooperation, and properly handling differences”.
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it → say → differences
The underlying territorial dispute remains unresolved, and both sides retain heavy military deployments along their roughly 3,500-kilometre high-altitude border along Tibet.
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sides → underlie → Tibet
‘Substantial harvest’
Xi is due to hold face-to-face talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi later on Saturday, according to New Delhi’s foreign ministry.
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Xi → hold → ministry
“They are looking for ‘early and substantial harvest’ when it comes to the border issue,” said Pradeep Taneja, a China-India expert at the University of Melbourne.
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Taneja → look → Melbourne
“You cannot have a build-up of your forces on the border … but at the same time say ‘we should continue to have people-to-people relations and economic relationships’.”
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we → have → relations
Deep mistrust remains, with their contested Himalayan frontier, a widening trade deficit and strategic rivalry still complicating ties.
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frontier → remain → ties
Dozens of Tibetans protested in New Delhi on Friday — exiles, like their Buddhist leader the Dalai Lama, who has lived in India since fleeing a Chinese crackdown in 1959 — waving placards against Xi’s visit.
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who → protest → visit
Modi embraced Putin on Friday before talks.
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Modi → embrace → talks
The Russian president, who last visited India in December 2025, is one of New Delhi’s most important strategic partners.
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who → visit → partners
India has navigated the energy crisis caused by the US-Iran war in part by turning to Russia, despite Moscow’s war in Ukraine and pressure from Washington and other Western capitals.
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India → navigate → Washington
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, also in New Delhi on Friday, said that pressure on Iran “has reached a critical and dangerous stage” following the “military aggression by the United States and Israel”.
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pressure → say → States
Modi and Pezeshkian also held talks.
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Modi → hold → talks
India maintains cordial relations with Iran and Israel, but is also careful to strike a delicate balance in its ties with Washington.
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India → maintain → Washington
‘Big constraint’
Brics was created in 2009 as a forum for major emerging economies seeking greater influence in institutions dominated by Western powers.
Modi told leaders that Brics nations “represent 50 per cent of the world’s population, 40pc of global GDP, and more than 2pc of global trade”.
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nations → create → trade
, Brics includes Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — countries with sharply differing positions on the war launched by the US and Israel in February.
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Brics → include → February
UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi are also to attend.
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Nahyan → attend → ?
Brazil is represented by Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira, with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva campaigning for a fourth term in October elections.
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Silva → represent → elections
Brics foreign ministers failed to agree on a joint statement when they met in New Delhi in May.
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they → fail → May
“The Gulf conflict is going to be the central fault line this time during the Brics summit,” said Harsh V Pant of India’s Observer Research Foundation.
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Pant → go → Foundation
“What was seen until last year as an achievement — the expansion of Brics — today looks like a big constraint on Brics,” Pant said.
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Pant → see → Brics
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