Putin, Modi Hold Talks at Delhi BRICS Summit — SkimNews
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- Vladimir Putin and Narendra Modi held bilateral talks on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit, discussing the Ukraine-Russia conflict, energy cooperation, and trade across several sectors, and reaffirmed commitment to their "Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership."
- Putin's attendance marks his first in-person BRICS Summit appearance outside Russia since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
- Masoud Pezeshkian landed in Delhi for the BRICS Summit — the first Iranian presidential visit to India in over eight years — and was scheduled to meet Modi at 6:15 p.m. local time Friday.
- BRICS has expanded from 4 to 11 member and partner countries since the 2023 Johannesburg expansion, now representing nearly 3.7 billion people and close to 40% of global GDP.
- Former UN diplomat Shashi Tharoor said the bloc's expansion made it "the voice of the Global South," but warned that "contradictions remain" — noting BRICS leaders recently couldn't agree on language regarding Iran or Ukraine, forcing India to issue a chair statement instead.
- India's Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal proposed linking BRICS payment systems, trading in local currencies, and expanding digital trade, citing India's UPI system already accepted in 11 countries.
- Modi was scheduled to hold additional bilateral talks with China's Xi Jinping and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan during the September 12–13 summit at Bharat Mandapam.
Why it matters: For India, hosting Putin — his first BRICS appearance abroad since the 2022 Ukraine invasion — alongside Iran's Pezeshkian and China's Xi positions Modi as convener of a bloc representing nearly 40% of global GDP that publicly couldn't agree on joint language regarding Iran or Ukraine at its most recent meeting.
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