Modi Pauses Speech To Check On Xi Jinping

Prime Minister Narendra Modi briefly halted his opening address at the BRICS Summit in New Delhi on Saturday after noticing that Chinese President Xi Jinping appeared uneasy. The moment unfolded a few minutes into Modi’s speech, when he turned toward Xi and asked the accompanying translator whether everything was fine, repeating the question soon after. Xi responded with a nod, and Modi carried on with his remarks.

An Unclear Cause, A Warm Gesture

It remains unclear what triggered Xi’s apparent discomfort during the address. The brief interruption stood out amid a summit otherwise filled with cordial exchanges between the two leaders, including handshakes and smiles that suggested a further thaw in India-China relations. Notably, Xi skipped the gala dinner Modi hosted for BRICS leaders later that evening, reportedly returning to his hotel to rest, though no official explanation was given for his absence.

First Visit In Seven Years

The episode came during Xi’s first trip to India in seven years, adding significance to the gesture. The two leaders also held bilateral talks on the sidelines of the summit, their first such meeting on Indian soil in years, lasting more than 50 minutes. Discussions reportedly touched on bilateral ties, peace along the disputed border, trade, market access, and people-to-people exchanges.

Opening the summit’s proceedings, Modi outlined India’s BRICS presidency around four themes: resilience, innovation, cooperation, and sustainability, while cautioning that global tensions increasingly affect ordinary citizens worldwide. He pointed to pandemics, climate disasters, and supply-chain disruptions as reminders that crises rarely stay confined to one region.

The small, human moment between Modi and Xi has since drawn attention as a sign of easing tensions between the two Asian powers, even as broader strategic questions between them remain unresolved.