Putin invites PM Modi to Russia for 24th annual summit - key points from Brics summit
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Russian President Vladimir Putin during the summit. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also arrived for discussions with PM Modi. Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected for bilateral talks and the summit. The expanded Brics grouping focuses on development and cooperation among emerging economies. India hosts the summit under its theme of resilience and innovation.
With the 18th Brics Summit under way in New Delhi, key developments have already emerged from the high-level engagements. Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, gifting him a Russian translation of the Thirukkural, while Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian arrived in Delhi and is set to meet PM Modi. Chinese President Xi Jinping is also due to arrive on Saturday for the summit and bilateral talks.India is hosting the September 12-13 summit under its 2026 chairship theme, “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”.
The expanded Brics grouping, which now has 11 members, is expected to focus on development, trade, technology, sustainability and strengthening cooperation among emerging economies and the Global South.PM Modi-Putin talks, Thirukkural gift & carpoolingPrime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin held bilateral talks, with trade, industrial cooperation, civil nuclear energy and other areas of strategic partnership expected to figure prominently in the discussions ahead of the 18th Brics Summit.The two leaders were expected to discuss an ambitious target of taking bilateral trade to $100 billion by 2030.
Other areas on the agenda included expanding industrial cooperation through INNOPROM in India, collaboration in railways and tunnelling, developing the steel value chain, creating more business-to-business opportunities and widening Indian access to the Russian market, government sources said.The two sides were also likely to discuss strengthening civil nuclear cooperation, including fuel-cycle and life-cycle support, increasing opportunities for Indian skilled workers in Russia, cooperation in critical minerals and expanding fertiliser cooperation through strategic joint ventures.During the meeting, PM Modi gifted Putin a Russian translation of the Thirukkural, the classical Tamil work attributed to poet-saint Thiruvalluvar.
The 1,330 couplets deal with virtue, wealth and statecraft, and love. Modi said the translation would carry Thiruvalluvar’s “eternal wisdom” across languages and borders." Presented President Putin with a Russian translation of the Thirukkural, which carries the eternal wisdom of the great Thiruvalluvar across languages and borders," PM Modi said in a post on X.After the bilateral meeting, PM Modi and Putin shared a car as they travelled to an exhibition at Bharat Mandapam.Pezeshkian arrives in Delhi, PM Modi meeting on cardsIranian President Masoud Pezeshkian arrived in New Delhi for the 18th Brics Summit.
The MEA said India and Iran, as Brics partners, are working towards “shared progress and prosperity”. Pezeshkian is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi later in the day. Ahead of his visit, he said Brics aims to confront unilateralism and reduce dependence on the US dollar.“ A special bank has been formed within the BRICS framework, and we are going to see investment from countries so that interactions between countries and members can be carried out without dependence on the dollar, thus reducing America's totalitarianism with the dollar,” he said.India and Iran had earlier discussed expanding and diversifying bilateral trade channels during Modi’s meeting with Pezeshkian at the SCO Summit in Bishkek.Xi’s visit, PM Modi talks and Beijing’s message on managing differencesChinese President Xi Jinping will arrive in New Delhi on Saturday for the Brics Summit and a bilateral meeting with PM Modi, his first visit to India in nearly seven years.
Beijing said the two countries should view ties from a strategic and long-term perspective, strengthen communication, enhance cooperation and properly handle their differences.The PM Modi-Xi meeting comes as India and China work to stabilise ties following the 2020 Eastern Ladakh standoff. The two sides have held talks on the boundary issue and agreed to advance discussions on an “Early and Substantial Harvest” of boundary delimitation and border management.
Xi’s visit is expected to offer fresh indications of the future direction of bilateral relations.Get the latest India News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.