Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a bilateral meeting in New Delhi on Friday, a day ahead of the 18th BRICS Summit that India is hosting on September 12 and 13. Putin had arrived in the capital earlier in the day and was welcomed upon arrival by Union Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh.Following the bilateral talks, the two leaders shared a car to head to the INNOPROM Exhibition at Bharat Mandapam, which they visited together.The Thirukkural giftDuring the talks, PM Modi gifted Putin a Russian translation of the Thirukkural, the classical Tamil scripture composed by the weaver-saint Thiruvalluvar. "Two thousand years ago, Thiruvalluvar wrote the Thirukkural. It includes the entire gamut of human life. It has been translated into the Russian language. I am confident that the people-to-people contact will increase with the translation of the Thirukkural into Russian, which will play a big role in strengthening our relations," PM Modi told Putin.Also read: What is Thirukkural? 2,500-year-old ancient Tamil text written by poet Thiruvalluvar that PM Modi gifted to Vladimir Putin during BRICS SummitThe Thirukkural consists of 1,330 couplets, each two lines long, structured around three universal values — aram (virtue), porul (wealth and statecraft), and inbam (love). Revered by Tamils as a sacred scripture, it is often referred to as "the Tamil Veda".What was on the agendaThe wide-ranging talks were expected to cover trade, energy security, defence cooperation, critical minerals and civil nuclear cooperation, along with mechanisms for cross-border payments and trade settlement in domestic currencies. Sources according to ANI said the success of INNOPROM in India was also discussed, with the exhibition seen as paving the way for expanding industrial cooperation with Russia, including greater collaboration in the rail sector and tunnelling, development of the steel value chain, more B2B opportunities, and broader Indian access to the Russian market.The INNOPROM visitINNOPROM, the International Industrial Exhibition, is a global platform bringing together manufacturers and buyers from around the world, offering a venue to showcase technologies, access international markets, and network on B2B opportunities. Its presence in India this year was part of the broader push to deepen India-Russia industrial ties.India's BRICS Chairship this year is guided by the theme "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability", with development, sustainability and innovation as key focus areas. BRICS has emerged as an important platform for coordination among major emerging economies and for advancing the interests of the Global South in multilateral institutions, with an agenda covering development, finance, technology, trade and people-to-people exchanges.Also read: Elephant, Dragon & Bear: Modi, Xi and Putin may converge at BRICS for a big power playThe grouping currently comprises 11 countries — Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the UAE — which together account for around 49.5% of the global population, 40% of global GDP, and 26% of global trade, according to background information on India's 2026 Chairship. India's Chairship comes amid global economic fragmentation, technological disruption, geopolitical uncertainty, climate change and resource pressures.The Modi-Putin bilateral continued a pattern of leader-level engagement between the two countries on the margins of BRICS summits, including their meeting on the sidelines of the 16th BRICS Summit in Kazan in October 2024. The 18th Summit in New Delhi is expected to bring together leaders and senior representatives from across the grouping over the two-day meeting starting Saturday.(With inputs from ANI)