Chinese President Xi Jinping was among the BRICS leaders who did not attend a dinner hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Saturday night, people familiar with the matter said.
Xi skipped the dinner because he was tired and exhausted after a long day of engagements and the time difference following his flight to Delhi, the people said. The Chinese president had arrived in the capital on Saturday afternoon to attend the BRICS Summit and also held a bilateral meeting with Modi.
Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed was another prominent leader who did not attend the dinner.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and several other BRICS leaders, however, attended the dinner hosted by Modi.
Ministers and chief ministers attend gala dinner
The dinner at Bharat Mandapam was attended by several Union ministers and chief ministers from across India.
Union ministers Amit Shah, Nirmala Sitharaman, Piyush Goyal, Ashwini Vaishnaw and Shivraj Singh Chouhan were among those present. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla also attended.
The chief ministers who joined the dinner included Uttar Pradesh's Yogi Adityanath, Maharashtra's Devendra Fadnavis, West Bengal's Suvendu Adhikari and Assam's Himanta Biswa Sarma.
The Union ministers and chief ministers travelled from Parliament House to Bharat Mandapam in two buses for the dinner.
The event came at the end of a packed first day of the two-day BRICS Summit in Delhi. The summit is bringing together leaders of the 11 member countries and 10 partner countries, along with representatives of international organisations.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was also among those attending the gala dinner and sang Kishore Kumar's “Khwaab Ho Tum Ya Koi Haqeeqat” during the event.
PM Narendra Modi and Xi discuss the future of bilateral ties
Xi's absence from the dinner came hours after his meeting with Modi on the sidelines of the summit.
The talks marked Xi's first visit to India in seven years and were closely watched as New Delhi and Beijing seek to consolidate a gradual improvement in relations following years of tensions along their disputed border.
According to the Ministry of External Affairs, the two leaders noted steady progress in India-China bilateral relations since their previous meeting in Tianjin in August 2025.
They agreed that the relationship should be approached from a strategic and long-term perspective, with Modi stressing that “differences should not become disputes”.
The prime minister also said the relationship should be guided by three principles: mutual respect, mutual sensitivity and mutual interest.
The MEA said the two leaders also discussed the importance of maintaining peace and tranquillity along the border. They expressed a commitment to working towards a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable settlement of the boundary question.
Economic ties were another part of the discussion. The two sides acknowledged the need to address structural trade imbalances and supply-chain issues and to facilitate meaningful and predictable market access. India and China recorded bilateral goods trade of around $151 billion in the 2025-26 financial year, although India's trade deficit with China remained substantial.
BRICS summit enters its final day
The BRICS Summit will conclude on Sunday after two days of discussions involving the expanded grouping and its partner countries.
Modi is scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with leaders from seven countries on the final day.
The summit has provided India with an opportunity for a series of high-level diplomatic engagements, including the Modi-Xi meeting and India's interaction with other BRICS leaders.
The Chinese president's decision to skip the dinner came after a particularly busy schedule that included his arrival in Delhi, participation in the summit and his bilateral talks with Modi. His absence was attributed by people familiar with the matter to fatigue and the time difference rather than any diplomatic disagreement.