PM-Putin bonhomie sets tone for crucial defence, trade talks

India rolled out the red carpet for President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi personally receiving the Russian leader at the airport on his arrival in Delhi for a visit that will be capped by an annual summit aimed at strengthening economic, defence and technology ties amid intense geopolitical churn.

- Rezaul H Laskar

This is Putin's first visit to India in four years — he last visited in December 2021 for the annual summit - and also the first since the start of the war in Ukraine in February 2022. The India-Russia summit will be closely watched in the US and Europe, which have pushed India in recent weeks to reduce Russian energy purchases and to nudge Putin to end the conflict.

Modi greeted Putin as he emerged from his official aircraft and stepped on to the red carpet on a winter night reflecting the importance attached by New Delhi to the visit - and the two leaders hugged and shook hands before briefly watching a cultural performance on the tarmac. They then got into a white SUV and joined a motorcade that sped to the PM's official residence, where Modi hosted a private dinner that allowed the two leaders to hold wide-ranging discussions away from the public glare.

“Welcomed my friend, President Putin to 7, Lok Kalyan Marg,” Modi said in a social media post, referring to his official residence, along with images of the two leaders smiling and shaking hands. There was no official word on the deliberations at the private dinner from both sides.

Modi later posted a photo on social media platform X of him presenting a copy of the Bhagavad Gita in Russian to Putin.

In an interview with India Today news channel ahead of his trip, Putin said Russia was keen to ramp up cooperation with India in civil nuclear energy, defence and trade, and noted the world will be watching his visit because of the rapid strides made by New Delhi in areas ranging from economic development to health care.