Arab News | Modi, Putin embrace before talking trade, energy and defence

New Delhi: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin embraced on Friday before talks on trade, energy and defence, a day ahead of the 11-member BRICS summit.

Moscow is one of New Delhi’s most important strategic partners and military suppliers, with the two leaders shown by Indian broadcasters grinning and patting each other on the back at the New Delhi conference centre where Saturday’s summit will be held.

India has navigated the energy crisis caused by the US-Iran war in part by turning to Russia, despite Moscow’s war in Ukraine and pressure from Washington and other Western capitals.

Putin last visited India in December 2025, but the two leaders met earlier this month at a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Kyrgyzstan.

Modi, speaking in Bishkek, hard urged Putin to move from an “endless war towards the end of war”.

Indian refiners nearly doubled crude imports from Russia in March, in the weeks after the Middle East war erupted, helped by temporary US waivers.

Shipments then rose sharply to 2.71 million barrels per day in June and a record 2.81 million in July, according to trade intelligence firm Kpler.

Imports fell to 2.07 million barrels per day in August, but remained significant, Kpler data showed.

Bilateral goods trade reached $59.9 billion in 2025-26, with India exporting $4.49 billion and importing $55.37 billion, according to Indian government data.