Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives in New Delhi to attend 18th BRICS Summit; bilateral talks with PM Modi in focus

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives in New Delhi early Friday for a three-day visit to the 18th BRICS Summit. He will engage in bilateral talks, and PM Modi will be received by Kirti Vardhan Singh. This is the first in-person BRICS Summit outside Russia since the Ukraine war in 2022.

Updated : Sep 11, 2026, 07:45 AM IST

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in New Delhi early Friday for a three-day visit to India, during which he will attend the 18th BRICS Summit and hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Putin was received at the airport by Kirti Vardhan Singh, Minister of State for External Affairs.

The visit marks Putin’s first in-person attendance at a BRICS summit outside Russia since the Ukraine war began in February 2022.

The New Delhi summit comes against the backdrop of mounting pressures on the global economy, including the Russia-Ukraine war, the West Asia crisis and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, as well as the Trump administration’s trade and tariff policies.

Among the prominent leaders attending the summit are Chinese President Xi Jinping, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali and Vietnamese Prime Minister Le Minh Hung.

On Friday, Putin will address the plenary session of the annual BRICS Business Forum, which traditionally precedes the summit and serves as an important platform for dialogue among business representatives from BRICS countries.

Later in the day, the Russian president will hold a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Modi and join him for a visit to the Innoprom exhibition, organised by the two countries' ministries of industry and trade. The two leaders will hold wide-ranging bilateral talks, focusing on ways to deepen cooperation in defence, energy, technology, pharmaceuticals and people-to-people ties.

The main summit programme will begin on September 12 with a meeting of BRICS leaders to discuss initiatives put forward by the Indian chairship and prospects for further strengthening the BRICS strategic partnership in politics and security, economics and finance, and cultural and humanitarian ties. The leaders will also exchange views on current international and regional issues.

On Sunday, an expanded BRICS meeting will bring together heads of delegations from BRICS member and partner countries, as well as invited countries and heads of international organisations.

Putin will also hold meetings with several international leaders, including South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, on the sidelines of the summit, TASS reported.

No separate full-format meeting between Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping has been scheduled on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in New Delhi, though the two leaders are almost certain to speak during a “pull-aside meeting”, news agency PTI reported