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Modi, Putin hold talks in New Delhi; discussion expected to be focused on trade, defence
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin began talks in New Delhi on Friday, their second meeting in two weeks, that is expected to focus on trade, energy and defence ties between the two countries, which have long been friends.
The talks are being held on the eve of the annual summit of Brics leaders in the Indian capital, that will see the participation of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, among others.
Modi and Putin are expected to discuss cooperation between the two countries in civil nuclear energy, fertilisers, defence, critical minerals, manufacturing, railways, and steel, an Indian source said.
The two leaders met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on August 31, where Modi told Putin that the war in Ukraine needed to end for humanity’s sake and that New Delhi would support every peace effort to stop the fighting.
India, along with China, is one of the biggest buyers of Russian oil, which is seen as helping Moscow replenish its budget since it sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in 2022 and was hit with sweeping Western sanctions.
India has, however, sought to resist the pressure, saying its large population and economy need secure, affordable and reliable energy supplies. New Delhi has also said that the Ukraine conflict can be resolved only through dialogue and diplomacy and not by some countries stopping energy, metal or fertiliser trade with Russia.
Russia’s share of Indian crude imports rose in 2026, reaching a record 51 per cent in July, as disruptions to Middle Eastern supplies increased Indian refiners’ reliance on Russian oil. That share likely moderated in August as China stepped up Russian oil purchases, Indian media reported.
Putin visited India in December 2025 as well for the annual India-Russia summit and the two countries agreed to expand their trade and defence relationship.
India prepares for Brics
Leaders from Iran were also in India for talks on Friday, ahead of a Brics summit dominated by conflict and economic challenges.
“One should engage in debate and friendship only with the virtuous, and nothing whatsoever with the unvirtuous,” Modi wrote on Friday, in a social media message in Sanskrit to welcome leaders to the 11-nation summit.
Posters of a beaming Modi line streets across New Delhi, with heavy deployments of security forces across the capital and widespread traffic restrictions.
Wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, as well as global trade turbulence and oil are expected on the agenda at the two-day annual summit that opens on Saturday, when Xi is set to arrive.
It will be Xi’s first visit to India since 2019, and marks the biggest step yet in a cautious thaw between the rival neighbours, six years after a deadly military clash along their disputed Tibetan border.
Ties between the nuclear-armed Asian giants have been warming again, with flights, visas and high-level contacts gradually being restored.
“China stands ready to work with India … by strengthening communication, enhancing cooperation, and properly handling differences,” Beijing’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Friday.
A woman walks past country flags outside Bharat Mandapam, the venue of the upcoming BRICS Summit in New Delhi, India, on September 10, 2026. — Reuters
Deep mistrust remains, with their contested Himalayan frontier, a widening trade deficit and strategic rivalry still complicating ties.
Dozens of Tibetans protested in New Delhi on Friday — exiles, like their Buddhist leader the Dalai Lama, who has lived in India since fleeing a Chinese crackdown in 1959 — waving placards against Xi’s visit.
Brics was created in 2009 as a forum for major emerging economies seeking greater influence in institutions dominated by Western powers.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who arrived in New Delhi on Friday and will hold talks with Modi, said that “Brics was established to counter unilateralism”, according to Tehran’s IRNA news agency.
This handout photograph taken and released by the Indian Press Information Bureau (PIB) on September 11, 2026 shows Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian disembarking from his plane after arriving at Palam Air Base in New Delhi. —PIB via AFP
‘Fault line’
As well as Iran, Brics includes Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — countries with sharply differing positions on the war launched by the United States and Israel in February.
All three have been admitted to the group in recent years, joining founding member states that include India, China and Russia.
“The Gulf conflict is going to be the central fault line this time during the Brics summit,” said Harsh V. Pant of India’s Observer Research Foundation.
“What was seen until last year as an achievement — the expansion of Brics — today looks like a big constraint on Brics,” Pant said.
Pezeshkian’s participation — his first visit to India as Iranian president — will put the Middle East conflict firmly on the agenda.
“The war in Iran will provide a stern test of the group’s cohesion,” said Shilan Shah of Capital Economics, noting the failure of the Brics foreign ministers to agree on a joint statement when they met in New Delhi in May.
UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan is also expected, as is Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
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