BRICS 2026: Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in New Delhi on Friday for a three-day visit to attend the 18th BRICS Summit, which India is hosting under its chairship. Upon his arrival, Putin was welcomed by Union Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh.
PM Modi-Putin Meeting
Putin’s first major bilateral engagement during his India visit will be a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi today. The two leaders are expected to discuss strategic trade resilience, cross-border payment systems, energy security, and ways to deal with ongoing geopolitical tensions in Eastern Europe and West Asia.
Putin is also scheduled to address the plenary session of the BRICS Business Forum on September 11. The forum brings together business representatives from BRICS countries and traditionally takes place ahead of the leaders’ summit. According to the Kremlin, Putin will also visit the INNOPROM exhibition with PM Modi. The exhibition has been organised by the industry and trade ministries of Russia and India.
“On September 11, Vladimir Putin will address the plenary session of the annual BRICS Business Forum, which traditionally precedes the summit and serves as an important platform for dialogue among business representatives from BRICS countries. On the same day, the President of Russia will hold a bilateral meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and, together with him, visit the INNOPROM exhibition, organised by the two countries' ministries of industry and trade,” the statement read.
Putin's Other Bilateral Meetings
The Kremlin also noted that Putin is visiting India as BRICS marks its 20th anniversary. Earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry had announced Putin’s visit in a social media post. “On September 11-13, President Putin will pay a working visit to India to attend the XVIII BRICS Summit. President Putin will attend the BRICS20 anniversary events, hold talks with @narendramodi & have a series of bilateral meetings,” the Russian MFA wrote on X.
Putin is also scheduled to hold several bilateral meetings with leaders attending the summit. He is expected to meet Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, Dilma Rousseff, head of the BRICS New Development Bank, and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on the same day.
The BRICS Summit will be held on September 12 and 13 at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, India’s BRICS chairship has placed emphasis on cooperation in areas such as trade, digital technology, finance, energy security and global governance reform.