New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin are scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting on Friday in New Delhi on the sidelines of the 18th BRICS Summit, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed on Tuesday. Speaking during a virtual briefing from Moscow, Peskov stated that the two leaders will address key bilateral matters, focusing on economic cooperation, bilateral trade, and the prospective sale of Russian Su-57 fifth-generation fighter aircraft to India.
The high-level discussions precede the two-day leaders’ summit scheduled for September 12 and 13 at the Bharat Mandapam convention centre in Pragati Maidan. India assumed the rotating BRICS presidency on January 1, marking its fourth time chairing the multilateral bloc. The summit is set to bring together heads of state from the 11-member core grouping—including Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates—alongside official delegations from ten partner nations and United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres. Chinese President Xi Jinping is also widely anticipated to attend, which would mark his first official visit to India since the 2019 informal summit in Mamallapuram.
During his briefing, Peskov also condemned the United States’ proposed measure to impose 100 per cent tariffs on nations purchasing Russian crude oil, describing the threat as illegal and unacceptable. The upcoming dialogue between Modi and Putin follows their previous engagement on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, where the Indian prime minister reiterated New Delhi’s principled stance urging an immediate return to dialogue, peaceful resolution of the Ukraine conflict, and a decisive end to war for the collective well-being of humanity.
