Russian President Vladimir Putin has landed in New Delhi to attend the BRICS summit. During his visit, he is scheduled to engage in bilateral discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The focus of these talks will be on enhancing cooperation in the defence, energy, and technology sectors.
PM Modi will also hold talks with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Friday. PM Modi and Putin last met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek last week. “We have to move from a situation of ‘endless war’ to ‘end of war’… The Russian President will also hold meetings with other 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. However, no separate full-format meeting has been scheduled between him and Chinese President Xi Jinping, who will be visiting India after a long gap of seven years.
He added that Russia was committed to fulfilling its remaining S-400 system deliveries and discussing the proposed supply of Su-57 fighter jets. Under New Delhi’s chairship, over 350 meetings and high-level engagements have been held in over 25 cities across the country, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
During their meeting, the Prime Minister urged the Russian leader to shift from an “endless war towards the end of war”, referring to the Russia-Ukraine conflict that began five years ago after Moscow’s full-scale invasion. It is humanity’s wish that the end of this war happens as soon as possible,” PM Modi said. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said earlier this week that New Delhi and Moscow were exploring upgrades to the BrahMos missile. He also said the two sides would hold negotiations on India’s plan to set up new civil nuclear reactors.
