Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has told Russian President Vladimir Putin that “dialogue and diplomacy” remain the way forward in resolving conflicts, as the wars in Ukraine and Iran continue.
Modi held talks on Friday with Putin in New Delhi on the sidelines of the BRICS bloc summit scheduled for the weekend.
The prime minister held “wide-ranging discussions with President Putin on various aspects of the India-Russia Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership,” India's foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal wrote on X.
The “leaders reviewed progress in bilateral cooperation in sectors including trade, energy, defence, space and people-to-people ties, which remain key focus areas of the enduring India-Russia partnership.”
Jaiswal said the leaders exchanged views on issues of mutual interest in the regional and global sphere, including conflicts in the Middle East and the Black Sea region.
The “PM reiterated that dialogue and diplomacy remain the way forward in resolving conflicts, and India stands ready to assist in peace efforts,” the spokesperson said.
Putin arrived in India’s capital and is scheduled to hold a number of meetings on the sidelines of the summit.
India-Russia relation
Moscow is one of New Delhi's most important strategic partners and military suppliers, and the two leaders were shown by Indian broadcasters grinning and patting each other on the back at the New Delhi conference centre where Saturday's summit will be held.
India has navigated the energy crisis caused by the US-Iran war in part by turning to Russia, despite Moscow's war in Ukraine and pressure from Washington and other Western capitals.
Putin last visited India in December 2025, but the two leaders met earlier this month at a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Kyrgyzstan.
Modi, speaking in Bishkek, had urged Putin to move from an "endless war towards the end of war".
With more than 320,000 seafarers, India makes up a major part of the global merchant shipping workforce, and several have been killed or wounded in attacks on vessels in the Gulf as well as the Black Sea region.
Indian refiners nearly doubled crude imports from Russia in March, the weeks after the Middle East war erupted, helped by temporary US waivers.
Shipments then rose sharply to 2.71 million barrels per day in June and a record 2.81 million in July, according to trade intelligence firm Kpler.
Imports fell to 2.07 million barrels per day in August but remained significant, Kpler data showed.
Bilateral goods trade reached $59.9 billion in 2025-26, with India exporting $4.49 billion and importing $55.37 billion, according to Indian government data.
