Putin, Pezeshkian in India for BRICS summit clouded by Iran and Ukraine war

The Russian and Iranian presidents have arrived in the Indian capital ahead of an 11-member BRICS summit, set to be dominated by wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, as well as economic challenges.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin had talks with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday and agreed to further strengthen the “special” relationship between their countries.

According to India’s foreign ministry, the leaders “shared perspectives on … the conflicts in West Asia and the Black Sea region, which have impacted maritime trade and the safety and security of Indian seafarers”.

Modi reiterated that conflicts should be resolved by dialogue and diplomacy, adding that New Delhi stood ready to assist in peace efforts.

“The two leaders agreed to remain engaged in an effort to strengthen further the special and privileged strategic partnership between the two countries,” the statement read.

Modi also met Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, and underscored the need to protect freedom of navigation and commerce, as well as the safety and well-being of ship’s crews.

India’s foreign ministry said Modi had emphasised the need for continued efforts to ensure lasting peace and stability in the region.

China’s President Xi Jinping, who is due to arrive in India on Saturday, is also expected to meet Modi on the sidelines of the two-day meeting.

BRICS, which stands for the original members of the grouping – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – was created in 2009 as a forum for major emerging economies seeking greater influence in institutions dominated by Western powers.

It has since expanded to include Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – three countries with sharply differing positions on the US-Israel war on Iran launched in February.

Posters of a beaming Modi lined streets across New Delhi to welcome summit leaders, with security forces deployed across the capital and widespread traffic restrictions in central districts. Delhi police urged people to be patient and cooperative.

“The Gulf conflict is going to be the central fault line this time during the BRICS summit,” Harsh V. Pant of India’s Observer Research Foundation told the AFP news agency.

“What was seen until last year as an achievement – the expansion of BRICS – today looks like a big constraint on BRICS,” he said.

It is Pezeshkian’s first visit to India as president and will put the Middle East conflict firmly on the agenda.

“The war in Iran will provide a stern test of the [expanded] group’s cohesion,” Shilan Shah of Capital Economics told AFP, noting the failure of the BRICS foreign ministers to agree on a joint statement when they met in New Delhi in May.

India maintains cordial relations with both Iran and Israel, but is also careful to strike a delicate balance in its ties with Washington.

India has navigated the energy crisis caused by the war on Iran in part by turning to Russia, one of its most important strategic partners and its most controversial fuel supplier in recent years, as Moscow’s war against Ukraine drags on.

Putin last visited India in December 2025, but he also met Modi in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, this month.

India’s Foreign Minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, visited Kyiv this month, where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was “grateful to India for its commitment to ending this unjust war”.

For China’s Xi, it will be his first visit to India since 2019 and marks the biggest step yet in a cautious thaw between the rival neighbours, six years after the deadly military clash along their disputed Himalayan border.

Ties between the nuclear-armed Asian giants have been warming again recently, with flights, visas and high-level contacts gradually being restored.

However, deep mistrust remains, with their contested frontier, a widening trade deficit and strategic rivalry still complicating ties.