Putin Meets Modi Today: Key Talks That May Shift India-Russia Ties

On Friday, the Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the annual India–Russia Summit, thus his two-day trip to New Delhi with a full program of events. This is the 23rd time the leaders are meeting in a year.

Putin's visit, which is his first to India after four years, is taking place at a time when New Delhi is in the process to facilitate a trade agreement with Washington to remove the tariff strain that was imposed by former U.S. President Donald Trump. Those taxes were connected to India's agreement on buying discounted Russian oil, a matter that has been the cause of the recent back-and-forths between the U.S. and India.

Day Two Itinerary

Putin will receive a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan at 11 a.m. on the second day, after which around 11:30 a.m. he will lay a wreath at Rajghat.

An hour later at Hyderabad House, the main summit session with Modi is scheduled, where the two sides will review the cooperation comprising political, defence, energy and economic issues.

Leaders’ statements are to be made at 1:50 p.m. in the same venue.

Later, at 7 p.m., President Droupadi Murmu will meet Putin for the latter's farewell to India at 9 p.m. at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Putin arrived in India just after a day of high-level talks with officials of the Trump presidency that were meant to explore options for a resolution of the Ukraine conflict. The discussions did not lead to any breakthrough.

India has adopted a neutral stance towards the war, asserting that dialogue is the only path while at the same time defending its position that the country's old friendship with Moscow is not in doubt, even as some Western countries continue to conduct business with Russia.

According to Reuters, the summit will serve as an opportunity for both countries to strengthen their commercial relations, particularly in those industries that are under sanctions pressure on Russia. India continues to be a major customer and user of oil imports from Russia by sea and Moscow has expressed its intention to make the volume of Russian products sold to India equal to $100 billion by 2030, thus increasing the trade between the two countries.

The officials are ready with the agreements which would be signed in the areas of labour mobility and civil nuclear cooperation, and they are going to present the collaboration as a process of adaptation to the changing world while preserving its major asset of being a strong partnership.