Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in New Delhi to attend the BRICS summit. He will hold bilateral talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday.
The two leaders’ talks are expected to cover strategically important issues, including expanding cooperation between the two countries in defence, energy and technology. Among the topics is India’s supersonic BrahMos missile development project.
Modi will also meet Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Friday.
Modi and Putin last met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, last week. At that meeting, Modi raised the Russia-Ukraine war and called on the Russian leader to end the conflict, which began more than four years ago with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said earlier this week that India and Russia are discussing an upgraded version of the BrahMos missile. Russia has committed to supplying India with the S-400 air defence system, and discussions are also underway on a proposal to supply Su-57 fighter jets.
Peskov said the two countries will also discuss India’s plans to set up new civilian nuclear reactors.
Putin will attend the two-day BRICS summit hosted by New Delhi, where he will speak at the plenary session of the annual BRICS Business Forum.
On the sidelines of the summit, Putin will also hold meetings with several other international leaders, including South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
However, no separate full bilateral meeting between Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping has been scheduled. Xi is visiting India for the first time in seven years.
Xi and Modi will meet Saturday evening, where trade, investment and other issues will be discussed. The two are also expected to review the overall situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
India, as the current chair, is hosting this year’s BRICS summit. The summit begins Saturday at 2:35pm.
The summit will be attended by President Sisi, President Ramaphosa, President Prabowo Subianto of Indonesia, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali.
Also attending will be UN Secretary-General António Guterres, World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, New Development Bank President Dilma Rousseff, and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank chief Zhao Jiai.
BRICS’ original members were Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia joined the bloc in 2024. Indonesia became a BRICS member last year.
The summit is expected to focus on expanding cooperation in trade, investment, connectivity and advanced technology. Discussions are also expected on strengthening cooperation in health, agriculture, food, energy, disaster risk reduction and supply chains.