Russian President Vladimir Putin landed early this morning at the Air Force station in Palam. He got here around 1:15 am or so. India’s Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh was there to receive him. This is Putin’s second visit to India in under a year – he was here last December for the bilateral summit – and he and Modi already met recently at the SCO summit in Bishkek at the end of August. So it’s not like they’re strangers catching up after ages.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is flying in tomorrow, Saturday. He’s expected around 12:25 in the afternoon, also at Palam. This is a big deal because it’s his first trip to India in seven years. Last time was 2019. China officially confirmed it yesterday, saying he’s coming on Modi’s invitation for the 18th BRICS Summit on the 12th and 13th. People are saying the two of them will sit down for talks on the side. Everyone’s watching that closely after all the border tension these past few years and the slow efforts to cool things down.
The actual summit is at Bharat Mandapam. India is chairing BRICS this year. The theme they’ve put out is about building resilience, innovation, cooperation and sustainability – the usual big words, but the focus seems practical. The group has grown to 11 full members now: the original ones plus Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. A bunch of partner countries and other invitees are also showing up, and the UN Secretary-General António Guterres is coming too.
Other big names expected are South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa, Iran’s Masoud Pezeshkian, Egypt’s Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Ethiopia’s Abiy Ahmed, Indonesia’s Prabowo Subianto, and the UAE’s Crown Prince. Pezeshkian is also arriving today and is supposed to meet Modi later.
On the schedule – Saturday the member-country leaders start arriving in the afternoon. There’s a closed session at 2:35 pm on inclusive global governance and strengthening multilateralism. Then they go look at this Bharat Innovates Exhibition, take the usual group photo, plant some trees together, and in the evening Modi is hosting a gala dinner. Sunday they open it up more, do another photo, and have the main open session. They’re expected to come out with a New Delhi Declaration at the end.
Delhi is under heavy security, as you’d expect. Thousands of police, paramilitary, cameras everywhere around the airport, hotels and the venue. Traffic is going to be a mess in places, so people are being told to plan ahead. Public transport is still running though.
The bigger picture is messy. The wars in Ukraine and the Middle East are hanging over everything, especially with energy and food supplies under pressure. India seems to be trying to keep BRICS focused on actual cooperation – trade in local currencies, tech, health, supply chains – rather than turning it into pure politics. Putin and Modi will talk defence, energy and trade as usual. Xi’s visit is being seen as another step in trying to manage the India-China relationship a bit better.
Modi put out a message yesterday saying India’s all set, with some videos of the venue looking ready. Officials are talking about positive discussions and looking out for the Global South.
That’s where things stand this morning. Putin’s already on the ground, Xi arrives tomorrow, and the formal meetings kick off Saturday. Delhi’s locked down and waiting. We’ll see how the bilateral chats and the big sessions actually go.
Sources: reports from Live Mint, France 24, Indian Express, Times of India, The Hindu, Economic Times and others from the last couple of days.
@Rohit Manral
