Putin arrives in Delhi for BRICS summit; Xi Jinping to join leaders on September 12

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in New Delhi early Friday for the BRICS summit, beginning a three-day visit to India during which he is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi for wide-ranging bilateral talks on trade, investment, energy and other areas of cooperation.

Putin is accompanied by a high-level delegation. His visit marks his first in-person participation at a BRICS summit outside Russia since the war in Ukraine began in February 2022.

“Warmly welcome President Vladimir Putin of Russia for the 18th BRICS Summit. He was received by MoS K V Singh at the airport. India and Russia share multifaceted and longstanding ties anchored in Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a post on X.

Putin and Modi are scheduled to hold their bilateral meeting on Friday afternoon. The talks are expected to cover cooperation in defence, energy, technology, pharmaceuticals and people-to-people exchanges.

The two-day BRICS summit, hosted by India and beginning Saturday, is expected to focus on strengthening collective resilience in food, energy, health, disaster reduction and critical supply chains. New Delhi is positioning the grouping as an effective anchor to navigate a fragmented geopolitical environment and as a complementary platform for the Global South’s development priorities.

The summit is taking place against the backdrop of a global economy facing the adverse impacts of the Russia-Ukraine war, the West Asia crisis, especially the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, and the Trump administration’s trade and tariff policies.

China has confirmed President Xi Jinping’s attendance, marking his first trip to India after a seven-year gap. Xi is scheduled to arrive on September 12.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Indonesian President 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 other top leaders attending the summit.

Delhi has stepped up security and traffic preparations ahead of the arrival of Xi Jinping and other visiting leaders. Both Xi and Putin are expected to travel through the national capital with some of the largest motorcades seen during the summit.

Security and traffic arrangements have been strengthened along routes connecting the airport, hotels and Bharat Mandapam, while special security measures have been put in place for Xi Jinping and Putin.

Xi Jinping will arrive at Palam Air Force Station and head to the Taj Hotel, while Putin will stay at the Maurya Hotel during his three-day visit, India Today reported.

Special security teams from both countries have already arrived in Delhi and are overseeing arrangements at the respective hotels. Security teams equipped with advanced weapons and equipment have been deployed across all floors of the hotel complex where Xi Jinping will stay. Similar arrangements are in place at Putin’s hotel.

Authorities have also conducted several route rehearsals to assess security arrangements. The Delhi Traffic Police has imposed traffic diversions and restrictions, with regulated vehicular movement in place across key routes in the national capital from 2 pm to 8:30 pm on Friday.

More than 35 roads have been identified for regulated movement, while 22 diversion points have been designated across Delhi. Nearly 4,800 traffic personnel have been deployed for summit-related arrangements in view of the movement of foreign delegations and VVIP convoys.

With New Delhi putting the finishing touches to the summit, India is steering BRICS around four pillars: resilience, innovation, cooperation and sustainability.

Under the resilience pillar, India has been focusing on strengthening collective cooperation in areas such as health, agriculture, food, energy, disaster risk reduction and supply chains, officials said. Enhancing cooperation in trade, investment, connectivity and high technology will also be high on the summit agenda.

India’s BRICS chairship is guided by the theme: ‘Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability’, reflecting its vision of a people-centric approach rooted in the spirit of “humanity first”.

In addition to these areas, the leaders will exchange views on strengthening intra-BRICS cooperation on common priorities and share perspectives on global and regional matters of mutual importance, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

However, with just two days left before the summit, it remains unclear whether the member nations have reached consensus on a joint statement, as differences between Iran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) over the West Asia crisis persist. The grouping operates under a framework of consensus.

BRICS originally comprised Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. It expanded in 2024 to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, with Indonesia joining in 2025.

Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Vietnam became BRICS partner countries last year.

BRICS has emerged as an influential grouping, bringing together 11 major emerging economies of the world that represent around 49.5 per cent of the global population, around 40 per cent of the global GDP and around 26 per cent of global trade.

Under India’s chairship this year, over 350 meetings and high-level engagements have been held in over 25 cities across the country to further strengthen the BRICS strategic partnership across three fundamental pillars: political and security, economic and financial, and cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

India is a founding member of BRICS and has previously held its chairship in 2012, 2016 and 2021. India assumed its fourth BRICS chairship on January 1, 2026.

According to the MEA, the summit will begin at 2:35 pm on Saturday with a closed-door session for BRICS member countries themed ‘Inclusive Global Governance and Strengthening Multilateralism’.

Following the session, leaders will tour the ‘Bharat Innovates Exhibition’ scheduled to open at 4:25 pm. At 5:05 pm, the leaders will assemble on the lawns of Bharat Mandapam — the summit venue — for a family photo, followed by a joint tree-planting ceremony. The first day’s engagements will conclude with a gala dinner hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at 7:30 pm.

On Sunday, leaders from BRICS member states, partner nations and outreach invitees will arrive starting at 9:55 am, followed by an official group photo at 10:35 am.

The opening session, titled ‘Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability: Shaping the Future for Inclusive Global Growth’, is scheduled to begin at 10:50 am, according to the schedule released by the MEA.

The summit will culminate with the release of the New Delhi Declaration.

Formalised at the 2006 UN General Assembly, BRIC held its first summit in Yekaterinburg, Russia, in 2009.

The group expanded to BRICS after agreeing to admit South Africa during the 2010 UNGA Foreign Ministers’ meeting, with South Africa joining its first summit in Sanya in 2011.