NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi stood on the tarmac of Delhi’s Palam airport on Thursday evening, greeting Russian President Vladimir Putin with a warm hug and a rare personal welcome, an unmistakable signal of the weight India attaches to a relationship that has endured nearly eight decades of geopolitical upheavals.
Traditional dancers swayed, cameras flashed, and the red carpet stretched long as the two leaders slipped into the same car, echoing their drive together in Tianjin just three months ago after the SCO Summit.
Modi hosted Putin for a private dinner soon after his arrival, mirroring the hospitality the Russian leader extended to him in Moscow last year.
“Delighted to welcome my friend, President Putin, to India. Looking forward to our interactions later this evening and tomorrow. India–Russia friendship is a time-tested one that has greatly benefitted our people,” Modi said in a post on X, shared in both English and Russian.
Their conversation this evening is expected to set the tone for Friday’s 23rd India–Russia Annual Summit, a meeting watched closely in Western capitals as both nations navigate a tense global climate amid laboured efforts to halt the conflict in Ukraine.
On Friday morning, Putin will receive a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan before laying a wreath at Rajghat and heading to Hyderabad House for formal talks over a working lunch.
Defence cooperation will dominate the discussions, with both sides expected to unveil a set of agreements and a blueprint for economic cooperation. Hours before Putin landed, the countries’ defence ministers held wide-ranging talks on India’s plans to procure additional S-400 missile systems, assets that proved decisive during Operation Sindoor, and to explore further military hardware, including the Su-57 fifth-generation fighter jet. Agreements on logistics support and the movement of Indian workers to Russia are also expected to be finalised.
Trade and energy will feature prominently as India seeks to address a ballooning deficit — USD 65 billion in imports from Russia versus USD 5 billion in exports, and navigate the impact of recent US tariffs and sanctions tied to Russian crude purchases.
Moscow has offered additional discounts on oil after India’s intake dipped in recent weeks, and cooperation in fertilisers, small modular reactors, and a proposed free-trade pact with the Eurasian Economic Union will also be on the table.
Putin is expected to brief Modi on the latest diplomatic developments around the Ukraine conflict, with India reiterating its consistent stance that dialogue and diplomacy alone can end the war.
After the summit, Putin will launch the India channel of Russia’s state broadcaster before attending a state banquet hosted by President Droupadi Murmu. He is scheduled to depart Delhi around 9 pm on Friday.
Through Cold War shifts, sanctions, and now a strained India–US dynamic, Russia remains, in New Delhi’s calculus, a time-tested pillar of India’s foreign policy. As Modi and Putin meet again, Delhi becomes the stage on which an old partnership seeks new footing while the world watches intently to see what unfolds on Friday.
