Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in New Delhi on Friday ahead of an 11-member BRICS summit expected to focus on conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, along with global economic challenges.
Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian were scheduled to hold talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while Chinese President Xi Jinping was also expected to meet Modi on the sidelines of the two-day summit, according to Indian diplomatic sources, reports AFP.
Putin arrived at Palam Air Force Station in the Indian capital, where he was received by India’s Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh, according to footage broadcast by Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency.
Xi’s visit will be his first to India since 2019 and marks the most significant move yet in a cautious improvement in ties between the two Asian powers, six years after a deadly military clash along their disputed Himalayan border.
Relations between the nuclear-armed neighbours have gradually improved, with the restoration of flights, visas and high-level diplomatic contacts.
However, tensions remain over their disputed border, India’s growing trade deficit with China and wider strategic competition between the two countries.
‘Fault line’
Posters featuring a smiling Modi have been placed across New Delhi to welcome the visiting leaders, while security has been tightened throughout the capital with extensive traffic restrictions in central areas. Delhi Police urged residents to remain patient and cooperate with authorities.
Established in 2009, BRICS was formed as a platform for major emerging economies seeking a greater voice in global institutions traditionally dominated by Western powers.
The grouping has since expanded to include Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — three countries with differing positions on the war involving the United States and Israel that began in February.
“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.
The summit will mark Pezeshkian’s first visit to India as Iran’s president, putting the Middle East conflict firmly on the agenda.
“The war in Iran will provide a stern test of the (expanded) group’s cohesion,” said Shilan Shah of Capital Economics, noting that BRICS foreign ministers failed to reach agreement on a joint statement during their meeting in New Delhi in May.
India maintains close relations with both Iran and Israel while also seeking to balance its ties with Washington.
New Delhi has managed the energy crisis caused by the Iran war partly by increasing reliance on Russia, one of its key strategic partners and a controversial fuel supplier amid the continuing war in Ukraine.
Putin last visited India in December 2025, but he also met Modi in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, earlier this month.
Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar visited Kyiv this month, where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was “grateful to India for its commitment to ending this unjust war”.
