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13-09-2026
Bureau Report
NEW DELHI: India and China’s leaders pledged to build up business and transport links, New Delhi said, as both rebuild ties badly damaged by a 2020 military clash on their disputed Himalayan border.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping met on the sidelines of a summit of the BRICS group of emerging nations in New Delhi, Xi’s first trip to India in seven years.
Military tensions have eased, but businesses in both countries say they continue to face hurdles, including red tape, visa delays and restrictions on selling industrial equipment.
“The two leaders … underscored the need to further promote cultural exchanges, business linkages and greater mobility between the two countries,” the Indian foreign ministry said in a statement.
“On economic and trade relations, they underlined the need to address each other’s concerns, including structural trade imbalance and supply chain issues, and facilitation of meaningful and predictable market access,” it said.
Bilateral trade reached a record $155.6 billion in 2025, according to Chinese customs data.
China has become India’s largest source of imports, with Indian purchases from China rising to about $132 billion in the 2025/26 fiscal year. India’s exports to China remain much smaller, leaving New Delhi with a trade deficit of more than $100 billion.
Xi said China has always viewed and developed China-India relations from a strategic and long-term perspective, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Institutional exchanges between the two countries are gradually being restored, the list of areas for cooperation is growing and bilateral trade has reached a new high, Xi said according to Xinhua.
