Putin and fellow BRICS leaders set stage for New Delhi summit

Russian President Vladimir Putin is in New Delhi for a three-day visit to attend the 18th BRICS Summit in the Indian capital.

Putin’s plane touched down early on Friday, and he was welcomed by an honor guard before leaving the airport in his Aurus presidential limousine.

His flight was preceded by three Russian IL-76 planes, carrying advance teams and military officials to review preparations and security arrangements, which landed on Thursday morning.

The Modi-Putin meeting is scheduled for Friday afternoon.

The relationship has grown beyond energy, defense, and space, to industrial cooperation and joint production, AI, labor mobility, and tourism.

And geopolitics is unavoidable, considering the current state of the world.

Here is a deeper look at the issues likely to come up in the talks. 

In December, when Putin last visited New Delhi, the leaders set two hard growth targets – corporate style – for the relationship: $100 billion in trade by 2020, and $50 billion in investments.

Trade turnover has since grown, Putin said last month. “It is rising this year, and this is due in part – and perhaps above all – to the efforts of the prime minister, Narendra Modi, who gives the development of Russian-Indian relations close personal attention,” Putin told Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar in Moscow.

The India-Russia priority investment tracking mechanism is actively monitoring 40 projects across advanced manufacturing, energy, mining, railways, and emerging technology, Indian Trade Minister Piyush Goyal told the plenary session of the INNOPROM. India trade fair on Thursday in New Delhi.

This is progress toward the $50 billion investment target.

Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov and Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met in New Delhi to discuss financial cooperation, with a focus on maintaining stable payment and settlement mechanisms to support growth in trade, investment, and broader economic ties.

The two sides also discussed preparations for an intergovernmental agreement aimed at promoting and protecting investments between Russia and India.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has arrived in New Delhi for the 18th BRICS Summit, marking the first visit to India by an Iranian president since 2018. Pezeshkian is set to meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi later on Friday.

The two leaders last met on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Bishkek on August 31, where they discussed bilateral ties, trade, developments in the Middle East, and cooperation within BRICS and the SCO. The Iranian leader is also expected to take part in the BRICS Business Forum.

In a sign of how bilateral economic ties are expanding beyond energy, Russian aviation companies stole the show at INNOPROM. India, the first Indian edition of Russia’s flagship international industrial exhibition.

READ MORE: Indian regional airlines to buy 105 Russian planes

Russian plane maker UAC on Thursday reached agreements with three Indian domestic airlines to sell up to 105 Il-114-300 regional jets. Plans to jointly produce the planes are also progressing.

UAC and India’s state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited are also negotiating the localization and production of SJ-100 regional jets, UAC CEO Vadim Badekha said.

Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met with Uruguayan Foreign Minister Mario Lubetkin in New Delhi on the sidelines of the 18th BRICS Summit.

Uruguay holds the rotating presidency of the 33-member Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC). India and Uruguay have stepped up engagement in recent months, with New Delhi appointing its first resident ambassador to Uruguay earlier this year.

READ MORE: BRICS 2026: Who’s coming and what’s on the agenda?

This is the 18th summit of the BRICS nations. The BRICS grouping has grown considerably from its original five members: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. It now also includes Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Indonesia.

BRICS has emerged as a major grouping because of its economic weight and population size. Together, they now account for nearly half of the world’s population, around 40% of global GDP, and 26% of international trade, according to Indian government data.

Here is a quick look at who’s attending and what’s on the agenda.