Modi and Putin Meet in New Delhi as India Balances Russia Ties with Global Pressure

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin held bilateral talks in New Delhi on September 11, their second meeting in under two weeks, just ahead of the BRICS summit. The discussion centred on trade, energy, and defence, and comes at a moment when India is trying to protect its long standing partnership with Moscow while managing pressure from Washington over tariffs and Russian oil imports.

A Second Meeting in Two Weeks

Putin arrived in New Delhi on Friday for talks with Modi, marking his first in person appearance at a BRICS summit held outside Russia since the war in Ukraine began. The two leaders had already met once before, on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek at the end of August, which makes this the second high level meeting between them in a span of less than two weeks. That pace signals how much weight both sides are placing on the relationship right now, especially with the BRICS summit itself opening the following day and drawing leaders such as China's Xi Jinping and Iran's Masoud Pezeshkian to the Indian capital.

The agenda for the Delhi talks was wide. briefed on the discussions, the two sides were expected to cover civil nuclear energy, fertilisers, defence, critical minerals, manufacturing, railways, and steel. Separately, reports also pointed to conversations on cross border payment systems and a greater push toward using national currencies for trade, part of a broader effort by both countries to reduce dependence on Western financial infrastructure. Both governments have set a target of reaching $100 billion in bilateral trade by 2030, and industrial cooperation was described as a central pillar of that goal.

The Oil Question India Cannot Avoid

Much of the backdrop to this meeting is shaped by energy. India, alongside China, remains one of the largest buyers of Russian crude oil, a trade relationship that has helped Moscow keep revenue flowing since it sent troops into Ukraine in 2022 and was hit with sweeping Western sanctions in response. Russia's share of India's crude imports has continued to climb through 2026, reportedly touching a record {{51 percent in July}}, even as Middle Eastern supply disruptions pushed New Delhi to lean further on discounted Russian barrels.

This dependence puts India in a difficult position. Washington has continued to press New Delhi over its Russian oil purchases, tying the issue to ongoing tariff negotiations between the two countries. India has consistently pushed back on that pressure, arguing that a country with its population size and economic needs cannot compromise on secure, affordable, and reliable energy supply. New Delhi has also taken a public position that the war in Ukraine can only be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy, not by countries cutting off energy, metal, or fertiliser trade with Russia. During the Bishkek meeting in August, Modi reportedly told Putin directly that the war needed to end for humanity's sake, and that India would support any genuine peace effort, a message he is understood to have reiterated in Delhi.

Defence, Diplomacy, and What Comes Next

Defence cooperation remains one of the oldest and most sensitive threads in the India Russia relationship. Talks have reportedly touched on the stalled delivery of two additional S-400 air defence system units, part of a 2018 deal that was delayed by the fallout from the Ukraine war and the sanctions that followed. There have also been media reports in India suggesting Moscow could offer co-production of Russia's Su-57 fighter jets, though this has not been formally confirmed by either government.

Beyond the hard numbers on trade and weapons, the meeting carried a symbolic layer as well. Modi presented Putin with a Russian translation of the Thirukkural, an ancient Tamil literary classic, a gesture that fits a broader pattern of cultural diplomacy the two leaders have leaned on throughout their partnership. Both sides also visited INNOPROM India, the first Indian edition of Russia's International Industrial Exhibition, underlining the industrial and manufacturing side of the relationship alongside its political dimension.

With the BRICS summit opening right after these talks, India finds itself in a position it has occupied for much of 2026: hosting a bloc built partly around resistance to Western economic dominance, while still trying to avoid a direct rupture with the United States. How Modi manages that balance over the coming days, in front of leaders from Russia, China, and Iran simultaneously, will likely say as much about India's foreign policy direction as anything discussed behind closed doors on Friday.