Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in New Delhi on Friday for the 18th BRICS Summit, which India is hosting. The summit, starting on Saturday, will focus on collective resilience in food, energy, health, disaster reduction, and critical supply chains. Putin will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday at 3:30 PM, marking their second meeting in less than two weeks. The discussions are expected to cover strategic trade resilience, cross-border payment mechanisms, energy security, and conflict-resolution pathways regarding ongoing geopolitical tensions in Eastern Europe and West Asia.

Putin's visit is part of a broader effort to strengthen India-Russia ties, with bilateral trade standing at approximately $60 billion, driven by discounted crude oil imports. Both nations aim to increase this to $100 billion by 2030. The Russian President will also address the BRICS Business Forum on September 11, a platform that traditionally precedes the leaders' summit and brings together business representatives from BRICS countries. During the summit, Putin is scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and visit the INNOPROM exhibition, organized by the industry and trade ministries of Russia and India.

The summit is taking place against the backdrop of a global economy facing adverse impacts from the Russia-Ukraine war, the West Asia crisis, and the Trump administration's trade and tariff policies. Chinese President Xi Jinping, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Indonesian counterpart Prabowo Subianto, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali, and Vietnamese Prime Minister Le Minh Hung are among the top leaders attending the summit. The meeting is expected to focus on enhancing cooperation in defense, energy, technology, pharmaceuticals, and people-to-people exchanges.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated that Russia is supporting the idea of inviting new countries to join different formats within BRICS, emphasizing the group's flexibility around policy and security, economics and finance, and cultural and humanitarian cooperation. Peskov also mentioned that negotiations with India on setting up new nuclear power plants and the sale of Su-57 fighter aircraft are on the agenda. The Kremlin stressed the need for cooperation in the financial sector, noting that Russia has reached 90 percent of all transactions with BRICS nations being made in national currencies, which is not necessarily aimed at de-dollarization.

India's BRICS chairship has focused on strengthening international cooperation across trade, digital technology, finance, energy security, and global governance reform. The summit is expected to address resilient global supply chains, cross-border payment integration, greater use of national currencies, MSME development, digital trade, and artificial intelligence. Energy security, climate resilience, development finance, expansion of the New Development Bank, and reforms of multilateral financial and political institutions are also expected to feature prominently. However, the outcomes of these discussions and their geopolitical implications remain uncertain.