Xi in Delhi for BRICS, but China-India trade stays frozen — SkimNews
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- Xi Jinping will attend the BRICS summit in New Delhi this weekend — his first India visit in seven years — with no confirmed bilateral meeting yet with PM Modi, who briefly met Xi at a Kyrgyzstan regional forum earlier this month.
- Business ties remain stuck despite diplomatic warming: Chinese companies face stalled investments, visa delays and Indian scrutiny, while Beijing has held up Indian-bound infrastructure and solar equipment at customs for more than a year, per Indian sources.
- BYD and Great Wall Motor shelved planned India investments after facing heightened New Delhi scrutiny, while India rejected Alipay's proposal to link with its instant payments system on national security grounds, Reuters reported.
- Xiaomi faces a possible Indian investigation after the Serious Fraud Investigation Office recommended probing alleged irregularities in its India business and breaches of foreign investment law; Xiaomi says it complies with all local laws and received no SFIO communication.
- Ajit Doval, India's National Security Advisor, is in Beijing co-chairing the 25th round of border talks with Foreign Minister Wang Yi — the first such talks since a 2020 Galwan Valley clash killed 20 Indian and 4 Chinese soldiers.
- China's commerce ministry has told companies not to sell critical technology and infrastructure to India — including port equipment, solar panels and mobile manufacturing equipment — according to two Indian sources; one former trade negotiator called it 'leverage' over India's trade dependence.
Why it matters: India has approved select Chinese ventures like a Dixon Technologies-Vivo manufacturing tie-up and eased some investment rules since March, but Beijing's simultaneous hold on Indian-bound solar panels, boring machines and mobile equipment shows the diplomatic thaw has not translated into commercial reality — leaving any Modi-Xi bilateral to close a widening trust gap rather than celebrate real progress.
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