But investors hoping the festive season in the world's second-largest gold buyer will boost the metal’s ailing price are likely to be disappointed, analysts say.
Reviving the China-India ore trade which peaked at 120mtpa in 2009 could be part of a grand bargain when Modi and Xi meet for the first time in New Delhi.
Gold and silver prices are being repressed by central banks, but Sprott Asset Management's Charles Oliver argues that demand pressure will cause this dam to burst sooner rather than later.