Chinese President Xi Jinping skipped the official BRICS gala dinner hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi and returned directly to his hotel, according to multiple diplomatic sources cited by Indian news outlets. No public explanation has been offered by Beijing, though sources point to fatigue after a packed travel schedule.
Key Takeaways
- Xi Jinping reportedly did not attend the BRICS gala dinner hosted by PM Modi on the sidelines of the summit in New Delhi.
- Sources say the Chinese president returned to his hotel to rest instead of joining the evening banquet with other heads of state.
- Neither the Ministry of External Affairs nor China’s foreign ministry has issued an official statement confirming the reason.
- The episode has revived chatter about the state of the Xi Jinping BRICS engagement and India-China optics at multilateral summits.
What Exactly Happened at the BRICS Gala Dinner?
The gala dinner is traditionally the informal centrepiece of any BRICS summit — a chance for leaders to talk without the stiffness of plenary sessions. This year, with India in the host’s chair, Modi’s office had built the evening around the “bhoj” format, a term Indian officials have used before for state banquets with a cultural showcase attached.
According to sources quoted by domestic wire services, Xi Jinping attended the earlier working sessions through the day but did not appear at the dinner itself. His delegation reportedly informed the host side that the president would be heading back to his hotel to rest, a detail first picked up by reporters tracking the motorcade movements outside the venue.
Who Else Attended the Dinner?
Other BRICS leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, who landed in India for the summit amid ongoing global attention on the Ukraine and Iran conflicts, were present at the dinner along with leaders from Brazil, South Africa, and the newer BRICS members. The absence of one head of state from a multi-nation gala is not unheard of, but when it involves the Xi Jinping BRICS delegation at a summit hosted by India, it draws extra scrutiny given the sensitivities in the bilateral relationship.
Why Did Xi Jinping Skip the Dinner? Sources Weigh In
Sources familiar with the Chinese delegation’s itinerary suggested plain travel fatigue was the likely reason — Xi had a dense back-to-back schedule of bilateral meetings before the summit began. That account, however, has not been independently verified by any official Chinese statement, and it sits alongside a second, more speculative theory floated by some commentators: that the move was a deliberate signal about the current temperature of India-China ties.
It’s worth being cautious here. Diplomatic no-shows get over-read all the time, and leaders skip social functions for entirely mundane reasons — jet lag, a late-running bilateral, even a scheduling clash with a call back home. Until New Delhi or Beijing confirms a reason on record, both explanations remain just that: explanations, not facts.
How Did India and China Respond Officially?
The Indian side has not issued any statement painting the absence as a snub. Officials close to the Ministry of External Affairs, speaking on background, described the dinner arrangements as running smoothly regardless of individual attendance, and pointed out that seating and protocol plans always build in some flexibility for last-minute changes.
Beijing’s foreign ministry spokesperson’s office has similarly stayed silent on the specific dinner episode, sticking instead to standard readouts about the “productive” bilateral exchanges Xi held on the summit’s margins. For a fuller sense of how BRICS itself frames these summits, the grouping’s own history and structure are documented on Wikipedia’s BRICS entry, which is useful background for readers new to the format.
Has This Happened Before?
This isn’t the first time a leader’s attendance at a BRICS social event has become a talking point. Below is a quick comparison of how such moments have played out at past multilateral summits involving Indian and Chinese leadership.
| Event | Leader Involved | What Happened | Official Explanation |
| SCO Summit dinner (past years) | Various heads of state | Partial attendance, early departures reported | Scheduling constraints cited |
| G20 New Delhi Summit (2023) | Xi Jinping | Xi did not attend the summit at all; PM Li Qiang represented China | No formal reason given by Beijing |
| BRICS Gala Dinner, New Delhi (2026) | Xi Jinping | Attended day sessions, skipped evening gala, returned to hotel | Sources cite rest/fatigue; unconfirmed officially |
That table matters because it shows a pattern worth watching rather than a one-off. Xi’s decision to sit out the 2023 G20 summit in Delhi entirely, sending Premier Li Qiang instead, is part of the backdrop that makes any partial absence at this year’s BRICS gathering read as more significant than it might otherwise.
What Does This Mean for India-China Relations?
India and China have been cautiously repairing ties since the 2020 border standoff in eastern Ladakh, with troop disengagement talks and resumed direct flights marking recent progress. Against that backdrop, every gesture at a summit — who shakes hands with whom, who sits where, who shows up to dinner — gets parsed by both sides’ domestic audiences and by China-watchers abroad.
Foreign policy analysts who track the relationship generally caution against reading too much into a single dinner. Summit fatigue is real; leaders in their seventies keeping up with multiple bilateral meetings a day is a legitimate strain. At the same time, optics at hosted events do carry weight in diplomatic circles, which is why Indian officials have been careful not to frame the episode as a slight, even informally.
For now, the more concrete outcomes of the summit — any joint declaration, bilateral outcomes between India and China on the margins, and how Xi’s delegation engaged with Modi’s team in working sessions — matter more for assessing the relationship than one skipped dinner.
Xi Jinping Brics FAQ
Did Xi Jinping officially explain why he missed the BRICS gala dinner?
No. Neither the Chinese nor the Indian government has issued an on-record explanation; sources have cited rest and a heavy schedule.
Did Xi Jinping attend other parts of the BRICS summit in Delhi?
Yes, according to available reports, he took part in the day’s working sessions before returning to his hotel ahead of the evening dinner.
Is skipping a summit dinner considered a diplomatic snub?
Not automatically. Leaders miss social events for routine reasons, but such absences are often scrutinised more closely when relations between the two countries are already sensitive.
Who else attended the BRICS gala dinner hosted by PM Modi?
Other BRICS leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and heads of state from Brazil and South Africa, were reportedly present.
Has Xi Jinping skipped Indian-hosted events before?
Yes, he did not attend the G20 Summit hosted by India in 2023, sending Premier Li Qiang in his place.
Whether this was simple fatigue or something read too deeply into by observers, the Xi Jinping BRICS dinner absence is unlikely to be confirmed either way on record any time soon. What’s clear is that the summit itself continued as planned, and both governments have chosen, at least publicly, not to make an issue of it.