Modi, Putin embrace before talking trade, energy and defense
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin embraced on Friday before talks on trade, energy and defense, a day ahead of the 11-member BRICS summit.
Moscow is one of New Delhi's most important strategic partners and military suppliers, and the two leaders were shown by Indian broadcasters grinning and patting each other on the back at the New Delhi conference center where Saturday's summit will be held.
India has navigated the energy crisis caused by the U.S.-Iran war in part by turning to Russia, despite Moscow's war in Ukraine and pressure from Washington and other Western capitals.
Putin last visited India in December 2025, but the two leaders met earlier this month at a Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Kyrgyzstan.
Modi, speaking in Bishkek, had urged Putin to move from an "endless war towards the end of war".
On Friday, Modi "reiterated that dialogue and diplomacy was the way forward in resolving conflicts", New Delhi's foreign ministry said in a statement after the meeting.
The leaders discussed conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, including the impact on "maritime trade and the safety and security of Indian seafarers", it added.
With more than 320,000 seafarers, India makes up a major part of the global merchant shipping workforce, and several have been killed or injured in attacks on vessels in the Gulf as well as the Black Sea region.
Indian refiners nearly doubled crude imports from Russia in March -- the weeks after the Middle East war erupted -- helped by temporary U.S. waivers.
Shipments then rose sharply to 2.71 million barrels per day in June and a record 2.81 million in July, according to trade intelligence firm Kpler.
Imports fell to 2.07 million barrels per day in August, but remained significant, Kpler data showed.
Bilateral goods trade reached $59.9 billion in 2025-26, with India exporting $4.49 billion and importing $55.37 billion, according to Indian government data.
