By David Young-
NEW DELHI — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held separate talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Friday, as India sought to strengthen key strategic relationships ahead of a major BRICS summit beginning this weekend.
The meetings in New Delhi come at a particularly sensitive moment for the emerging-market grouping, which is facing pressure to maintain unity amid the war in Ukraine, conflict in the Middle East and growing tensions between the United States and China.
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India is chairing BRICS this year, giving Modi a central role in discussions involving some of the world’s most influential emerging economies. The summit, taking place on Saturday and Sunday, will bring together leaders including Putin, Pezeshkian and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
BRICS was established in 2006 by Brazil, Russia, India and China, with South Africa joining the grouping soon afterwards. It has since expanded to 11 member countries, collectively representing about half of the world’s population and a substantial share of the global economy.
Against that backdrop, Modi’s meetings with Putin and Pezeshkian underline India’s effort to maintain relationships with countries that occupy very different positions in the international system while simultaneously deepening its own ties with the United States and Europe.
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During his meeting with Putin, Modi discussed cooperation between India and Russia across a broad range of areas, including politics, trade, defence and energy. The two leaders also discussed India’s engagement with Russia through BRICS and exchanged views on regional and international developments, including conflicts in the Middle East, according to India’s foreign ministry.
The meeting highlighted the continuing importance of the relationship between New Delhi and Moscow, despite significant changes in the global geopolitical landscape since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. India has maintained close defence and economic relations with Russia for decades and has resisted pressure from Western governments to isolate Moscow. Instead, New Delhi has consistently called for dialogue and diplomacy as the means of resolving the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Modi reiterated that position on Friday, saying that dialogue and diplomacy were the way forward and that India was prepared to contribute to peace efforts. The balancing act is becoming increasingly important for New Delhi. While India continues to maintain its relationship with Moscow, it has also been pursuing closer strategic, trade and investment ties with the United States and European countries.
Russia nevertheless remains an important supplier of military equipment to India, although New Delhi has sought to diversify its defence procurement in recent years. Energy remains another major pillar of the relationship.
Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, India has significantly increased its purchases of discounted Russian oil, providing an important source of energy for the Indian economy while helping offset some of the disruption and volatility in global energy markets.
The presence of Putin in New Delhi therefore carries significance well beyond the bilateral relationship. His attendance at the BRICS summit gives India an opportunity to demonstrate that it can maintain close relations with Russia while simultaneously engaging with other major global powers. Modi’s second major meeting on Friday was with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, whose participation in the summit comes amid continuing turmoil in the Middle East.
According to India’s foreign ministry, Modi thanked Pezeshkian for Iran’s high-level participation in BRICS “despite the challenging circumstances.” The two leaders discussed bilateral relations and wider regional developments.
The meeting was particularly significant given India’s complicated relationship with Iran. New Delhi has maintained longstanding links with Tehran while simultaneously strengthening partnerships with Israel and the Gulf Arab states.
India has sought to preserve its strategic relationship with Iran despite the considerable geopolitical pressures surrounding Tehran. At the same time, US sanctions and the threat of secondary penalties against companies doing business with Iran have severely constrained India’s ability to maintain some forms of economic engagement.
Those restrictions have contributed to India ending direct imports of Iranian crude oil, adding another layer of complexity to the relationship.
During his talks with Pezeshkian, Modi called for sustained efforts to promote regional peace and stability, while stressing the importance of protecting maritime trade routes and the safety of seafarers. The emphasis on maritime security is particularly significant for India, whose economy depends heavily on international shipping routes connecting it to energy suppliers and major markets across the Middle East, Africa, Europe and Asia.
The meetings with Putin and Pezeshkian demonstrate the breadth of the diplomatic balancing act facing Modi as India hosts the BRICS summit. New Delhi has increasingly sought to position itself as an independent global power capable of maintaining relationships with countries that have sharply different relationships with Washington and the West.
Its position on Russia and Iran reflects that approach, while its expanding strategic partnership with the United States demonstrates that India does not see its relations with Moscow and Tehran as incompatible with closer Western engagement. The BRICS summit will put that strategy on full display.
The grouping has expanded considerably since its creation, bringing together countries with different political systems, economic interests and foreign-policy priorities. Its growing membership has increased its global weight but has also made consensus more complicated.
The war in Ukraine has exposed some of those differences, with Russia seeking greater support from non-Western partners while India and other members have generally avoided endorsing Moscow’s invasion. The conflict in the Middle East presents another challenge, particularly as member states have different relationships with Israel, Iran and the wider region.
Meanwhile, rising tensions between the United States and China add another layer of complexity to the summit. Beijing remains one of India’s most important economic partners but relations between the two Asian powers have been strained by strategic and border disputes.
With Xi Jinping also expected to attend, the summit will provide an important forum for India to manage its relationships with both China and Russia while maintaining its growing partnership with the West.
Friday’s meetings were therefore not simply diplomatic engagements ahead of a major international gathering. They were also an illustration of India’s broader foreign-policy strategy: maintaining strategic autonomy while strengthening relationships across competing geopolitical blocs.
The challenge will be to translate that balancing act into consensus within BRICS.
As leaders gather in New Delhi, the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East will inevitably shape discussions, alongside questions about energy security, trade, investment, maritime stability and the future direction of the international system.
India’s presidency of BRICS gives Modi an opportunity to influence that conversation. His meetings with Putin and Pezeshkian suggest that New Delhi intends to use the summit to reinforce its position as a diplomatic bridge between countries increasingly divided by geopolitical rivalry.
Observers expect the weekend summit to rest whether BRUCS can maintain unity amid those divisions- and whether India can use its eadership of the grouping to advance its vision of a more multipolar global order, while protecting ots own intersts.
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