New Delhi (AFP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin was in India on Friday for talks ahead of an 11-member Brics summit dominated by conflict and economic challenges, with the leaders of China and Iran set to attend.
Issued on: 11/09/2026 - 06:22Modified: 11/09/2026 - 10:19
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Wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, as well as global trade turbulence and oil are expected on the agenda at the two-day annual summit that opens on Saturday, when Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to arrive. It will be Xi's first visit to India since 2019, and marks the biggest step yet in a cautious thaw between the rival neighbours, six years after a deadly military clash along their disputed Himalayan border. Ties between the nuclear-armed Asian giants have been warming again recently, with flights, visas and high-level contacts gradually being restored. However, deep mistrust remains, with their contested frontier, a widening trade deficit and strategic rivalry still complicating ties. "One should engage in debate and friendship only with the virtuous, and nothing whatsoever with the unvirtuous," Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote Friday, in a message in Sanskrit to welcome arriving leaders on social media. Modi is due to hold talks later on Friday with Putin, who last visited India in December 2025. Moscow is one of New Delhi's most important strategic partners. India has navigated the energy crisis sparked by the Iran war in part by turning to Russia, its most controversial fuel supplier in recent years. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is also expected on Friday, and is due to hold talks with Modi. BRICS leaders meet in Rio to defend multilateralism 'under attack' 'Fault line' Posters of a beaming Modi line streets across New Delhi to welcome the leaders, with heavy deployments of security forces across the capital and widespread traffic restrictions. Brics was created in 2009 as a forum for major emerging economies seeking greater influence in institutions dominated by Western powers.
