New Delhi: A day before the BRICS Summit begins, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Russian President Vladimir Putin in New Delhi on Friday (September 11). The two leaders held a 45-minute bilateral meeting and discussed trade, energy, defence, infrastructure, technology and other areas of India-Russia cooperation.
The meeting came less than two weeks after Modi and Putin met in Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan). They also discussed military confrontaaations in West Asia and the Black Sea region. India repeated its position that dialogue and diplomacy are the way forward in resolving conflicts. No joint statement was issued by the two countries after the meeting. Details of the talks were shared by the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, Modi himself and the Russian side. The two leaders reviewed progress in bilateral cooperation in business, energy, defence, space and people-to-people ties. They also exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual interest, including the ongoing conflicts in West Asia and the Black Sea region. He added that India is ready to support peace efforts. The safety of Indian sailors in the Black Sea also came up during the meeting. Modi repeated India’s willingness to support any peace initiative aimed at ending the Russia-Ukraine war. Trade was another major part of the talks. Cooperation in defence, energy and critical minerals was also discussed. PM Modi too shared details of the meeting on X. He also referred to India’s efforts during its BRICS presidency to advance initiatives aimed at the welfare of the world. India and Russia are looking to strengthen their economic ties while continuing cooperation in areas such as energy, defence and infrastructure. India and Russia also plan to increase cooperation on civilian nuclear reactors as part of their energy ties. India’s statement described defence cooperation in general terms.
The two sides agreed to work towards taking annual bilateral trade to $100 billion by 2030. The mention of the Economic Cooperation Programme 2030 gives the trade plan a longer-term target. On Tuesday (September 9), he said India and Russia are looking at an upgrade to the BrahMos missile system. He added Russia will complete the delivery of the pending S-400 systems to India. The two sides were also discussing the proposed supply of Su-57 fighter jets, according to Peskov. The official details released after Friday’s meeting did not specifically mention the BrahMos, S-400 or Su-57.
Jaiswal posted on X that PM Modi and President Putin held comprehensive talks on different aspects of the India-Russia “Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership”. He said PM Modi repeated India’s position that dialogue and diplomacy is the right way to resolve conflicts. He said he is pleased to meet President Putin in Delhi less than two weeks after their meeting in Bishkek. “Today’s meeting covered further strengthening our economic ties, including implementation of the ‘Economic Cooperation Programme 2030’, cooperation in infrastructure, energy, technology, defence, culture and other areas,” he said. The Russian side also said the meeting could lead to concrete outcomes.
Some of the defence issues discussed by the two sides had been mentioned earlier by Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.
His comments were in line with the points later shared by Jaiswal and Modi. Trade, energy, defence and other areas of bilateral cooperation featured in the talks, along with regional conflicts. The meeting also ended with an invitation from Putin to Modi for the 24th India-Russia Annual Summit in Moscow. Modi accepted the invitation. The dates for the summit will be decided through diplomatic channels after consultations between the two countries and based on their mutual convenience.
Peter Sizov, press secretary at the Russian Embassy, said after the talks that positive results from the Modi-Putin meeting were expected soon.
