BRICS Summit 2026 Live Updates: Xi Jinping leaves for New Delhi, to hold talks with Modi
The 18th BRICS Summit convened in New Delhi against a backdrop of escalating conflict in West Asia, disruption to shipping and energy markets, and a sharp rise in global oil prices.
The Chinese President's visit for the summit marked his first trip to India since the 2019 informal summit, preceding a bilateral meeting with the Indian Prime Minister held on the summit's margins.
Bilateral engagements were scheduled between India and several visiting leaders alongside the formal multilateral summit agenda, reflecting a broader pattern of using large multilateral gatherings as venues for parallel bilateral diplomacy.
The summit's backdrop of energy-market volatility fed directly into the bloc's discussions on energy security, supply diversification, and resilient infrastructure.
The Strait of Hormuz as a Global Energy Chokepoint
The Strait of Hormuz, between Iran and Oman at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, is the world's most critical oil transit chokepoint, through which roughly a fifth of global oil supply passes in normal conditions. Escalating US-Iran confrontation and Iranian restrictions on passage through the strait in 2026 caused sustained volatility in benchmark crude prices, illustrating how a single geographic chokepoint can transmit conflict risk directly into global energy markets.
The summit's discussion of "diversified supply sources, resilient infrastructure and stable energy markets" for energy security is a direct policy response to exactly this kind of chokepoint-driven price shock, which was actively unfolding as BRICS leaders gathered in New Delhi.
India's Crude Oil Import Diversification Strategy
As the world's third-largest crude oil importer, India has pursued explicit diversification of both supplier countries and shipping routes to reduce exposure to any single chokepoint or supplier relationship — a strategy that came under active stress-testing during the 2026 West Asia tensions.
The energy-market disruption forming the backdrop to this BRICS Summit is the real-world test of India's multi-year diversification strategy, which the government has cited as having limited (though not eliminated) the pass-through of chokepoint risk into domestic fuel supply.
Informal Summits vs. Formal State Visits in India-China Diplomacy
India and China have used two distinct formats for top-level engagement over the past decade: formal, protocol-heavy state visits, and less formal "informal summits" without a fixed agenda or joint statement, intended to build personal rapport and strategic-level understanding away from bureaucratic frameworks. A leaders' meeting on the sidelines of a multilateral summit — as with this BRICS gathering — is a third, distinct format, where a bilateral meeting is appended to an already-scheduled multilateral event rather than being the primary purpose of the visit.
Key Details
- The first India-China informal summit was held at Wuhan, China (April 2018), followed by a second at Mamallapuram, Tamil Nadu (October 2019) — both without formal agendas or binding joint statements
- Following the 2019 Mamallapuram summit, the Chinese President's 2026 BRICS visit to New Delhi was his first visit to India in roughly seven years, a gap spanning the entire period of the post-Galwan (2020) border standoff and subsequent de-escalation process
- Summit-sideline bilateral meetings (as distinct from standalone state visits or informal summits) are a common diplomatic tool at multilateral gatherings (G20, SCO, BRICS) allowing leaders to hold direct talks without the diplomatic signalling of a dedicated bilateral visit
The format chosen for the 2026 Modi-Xi meeting — a bilateral appended to the BRICS multilateral calendar, rather than a standalone state visit or a new "informal summit" — reflects a calibrated, lower-key mode of re-engagement between the two countries following the multi-year post-Galwan estrangement.
- Strait of Hormuz: carries approximately one-fifth of global oil supply in normal conditions; located between Iran and Oman
- India's non-Hormuz crude sourcing: approximately 70% of imports (2026), up from about 55% previously; crude sourced from roughly 40 countries
- India's Russian crude imports: record highs of approximately 2.7-2.8 million barrels per day in mid-2026
- India-China informal summits: Wuhan (April 2018), Mamallapuram (October 2019)
- Gap since the Chinese President's previous visit to India before the 2026 BRICS Summit: approximately seven years (since the 2019 Mamallapuram summit)
- India is the world's third-largest crude oil importer