Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in New Delhi on Saturday for a one-day visit to attend the BRICS Summit, his first trip to India in seven years. The visit comes as India-China ties have seen a series of high-level engagements in recent months.
Xi is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi for bilateral talks on Saturday evening, with trade and investment ties expected to feature prominently in the discussions. He is accompanied by a high-level delegation of senior government officials and business leaders.
China’s arrangements for transporting its top political leadership are considerably less familiar internationally than the United States’ highly recognisable Air Force One system. Yet Beijing also relies on a specially configured version of the Boeing 747 for long-distance travel by its most senior leaders, with the aircraft operating under Air China branding rather than a separate presidential identity.
