Putin Arrives In Delhi Ahead Of BRICS Summit

Russian President Vladimir Putin touched down in New Delhi on Friday. He arrived ahead of the 11-member BRICS summit. Wars in the Middle East and Ukraine will likely dominate the gathering. Economic troubles loom large as well. Russian and Iranian leaders are set to speak with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Chinese President Xi Jinping is also expected to meet Modi on the sidelines of this two-day event.

Putin landed at Palam Air Force Station. Kirti Vardhan Singh, India's Minister of State for External Affairs, greeted him there. Russia's Ria Novosti news agency broadcast footage of the welcome. Posters showing a smiling Modi lined the streets across the capital. Heavy security forces were deployed everywhere. Traffic restrictions shut down central districts. Delhi police asked citizens to stay patient and cooperate.

BRICS stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The group formed in 2009 as a forum for emerging economies seeking more influence against Western powers. It has since grown. Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are now members. These nations hold sharply different views on the US-Israel war launched in February.

"The Gulf conflict is going to be the central fault line this time during the BRICS summit," Harsh V Pant of India's Observer Research Foundation told AFP news agency. "What was seen until last year as an achievement – the expansion of BRICS – today looks like a big constraint on BRICS," Pant added. It will be Masoud Pezeshkian's first visit to India as Iranian president. This puts the Middle East conflict firmly on the agenda.

"The war in Iran will provide a stern test of the (expanded) group's cohesion," Shilan Shah of Capital Economics told AFP. She noted how foreign ministers failed to agree on a joint statement when they met in New Delhi in May. India keeps cordial ties with both Iran and Israel. Yet it must carefully balance those relations with Washington.

India helped ease its energy crisis caused by the war on Iran partly by turning to Russia. Moscow remains one of India's most important strategic partners. It is also a controversial fuel supplier as Russia drags on in Ukraine. Putin last visited India in December 2025. He also met Modi in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan's capital, this month.

Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar traveled to Kyiv recently. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed gratitude for India's commitment to ending the unjust war there. For China's Xi, this marks his first visit to India since 2019. It signals a cautious thaw between rival neighbors. Six years have passed since a deadly military clash along their disputed Himalayan border.

Flights and visas are gradually being restored between the two nations. High-level contacts are returning. However, deep mistrust remains. Their contested frontier still causes trouble. A widening trade deficit complicates things further. Strategic rivalry keeps tensions high.