Important conversations: Putin expects to meet twice with Modi before the end of the year

Moscow and New Delhi have launched a series of contacts ahead of the SCO and BRICS summits. On August 24, Vladimir Putin received Indian Foreign Minister Subramanyam Jaishankar in the Kremlin. In the coming weeks, the Russian president is likely to meet twice with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Despite the external pressure, the parties manage to increase the already impressive trade turnover. Russia will not leave its partner without a stable agricultural sector: Putin promised to increase the supply of fertilizers. At the same time, experts are sure that India's purchases of our oil were discussed behind closed doors against the background of drone attacks on refineries. What defines Russian-Indian relations now is in the Izvestia article.

Why did Modi fly to Russia

Indian Foreign Minister Subramaniam Jaishankar paid an official visit to Moscow on August 24. He arrived in the capital the day before at the invitation of First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov and immediately joined the work. First, the parties held a series of meetings and participated in a meeting of the Russian-Indian intergovernmental commission. Having outlined the key areas of cooperation, Jaishankar went to the Kremlin to meet with Putin.

— I am very glad to see you, Mr. Minister. Your visit today highlights the level of relations that have developed between Russia and India for decades. We continue to work in almost all areas," the president said.

Vladimir Putin conveyed his best wishes to Indian leader Narendra Modi and confirmed plans to meet with him soon at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, which will be held from August 31 to September 1 in Bishkek. The Head of State did not rule out another meeting before the end of the year. It is most likely that the leaders will meet in New Delhi at the BRICS summit in mid-September.

—Prime Minister Narendra Modi is looking forward to meeting you at the SCO summit and also hopes that you will have the opportunity to come to the BRICS summit and host this annual summit," Jaishankar replied.

Obviously, this was one of the reasons for the Indian minister's visit to Moscow — for the personal invitation of the head of state, says political scientist Tatiana Kosacheva. Moreover, India, as the host country, wants to discuss creating conditions for the most comfortable participation of the Russian side, but without the risk of escalation with Western partners for itself, the expert believes. New Delhi is under very serious pressure from the West, primarily the United States, in matters of cooperation with Moscow.

Despite this, the leaders of Russia and India maintain an intensive personal dialogue: during the years of Narendra Modi's premiership (since 2014), they have met with Vladimir Putin about 20 times both in the format of bilateral visits and at international summits. The last time they saw each other in person was on December 4-5, 2025, when the head of the Russian Federation arrived in New Delhi on a full-scale state visit.

Sometimes it is really possible to resolve sensitive moments at the highest level. For example, trade turnover is showing growth again after a slight decline last year, Vladimir Putin noted. According to him, the key merit in this belongs to Narendra Modi, who pays personal attention to the Russian-Indian dialogue. Over the past six months, mutual trade has grown by 8%, reaching $60 billion, Manturov said earlier at a meeting of the intergovernmental commission. The main goals of Moscow and New Delhi, despite the pressure, are to conclude a free trade agreement with the EAEU and reach the milestone of $100 billion in trade turnover by 2030. The numbers show that this is quite possible.

What issues did Putin and Modi discuss?

India is the world's third largest importer and consumer of oil. The country meets more than 88% of its needs in this area through procurement. At the moment, Russia remains one of the key suppliers of raw materials. Moreover, according to the FT, citing data from the analytical company Kpler, India's purchases of Russian oil reached a historic high amid supply disruptions from the Persian Gulf. In February, they amounted to about 1 million barrels per day, and in June and July, they were already more than 2.6 million barrels, which is more than half of the country's total imports of raw materials.

Most likely, it was the supply of Russian oil that became the central topic of negotiations in a closed format, especially against the background of drone attacks on our refineries, political analysts say. Tatiana Shaumyan, Head of the Center for Indian Studies at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, stressed that the energy sector as a whole is one of the key areas on the bilateral agenda. India is currently in great need of oil, and energy security is a priority. At the same time, we are talking not only about direct supplies, but also about joint extraction and processing of raw materials.

— It is impossible to disrupt these connections: any attacks on infrastructure are insurmountable obstacles. Those who arrange these things (drone attacks. — Ed.), they seek to disrupt our ties. Our task, and India's, on the contrary, is to strengthen cooperation in this strategic sector," said Tatiana Shahumyan.

Vladimir Putin noted that one of the main issues remains not only energy resources, but also the supply of fertilizers. Russia has confirmed its readiness to fully meet the needs of the Indian agricultural sector in agrochemistry, remaining the largest supplier for the republic here. According to the Ministry of Trade and Industry of the country, in 2025, the volume of supplies of Russian fertilizers increased by 41%, reaching 6.5 million tons. "We are increasing these supplies and are ready to continue doing so," the president promised.

Nuclear generation is also receiving a new impetus. At the meeting of the intergovernmental commission, it was emphasized that the successful launch of the first two power units of the Kudankulam NPP and the continuation of the construction of the remaining four form the basis for the creation of new plants in India, including low-power ones, with the localization of production of equipment and nuclear fuel. Special attention is also paid to industrial cooperation: deliveries of Superjet-100 and IL-114-300 aircraft are being discussed, which have aroused the high interest of Indian air carriers.

Increasing economic cooperation always involves issues of calculations. The main obstacle to trade with India is still the problems with payments and the risks of secondary sanctions. It is quite possible that the closed part discussed mechanisms for dealing with restrictions so that trade, especially in the energy and military-industrial complex, does not stagnate, Tatiana Kosacheva believes.

The upcoming SCO and BRICS summits will certainly further strengthen the already stable cooperation between Russia and India. The convergence of positions is particularly effective at large-scale venues. And the number of face-to-face contacts between the leaders of the two countries will exceed three dozen.