Putin attends the September 12-13 BRICS Summit in India, reinforcing the "privileged strategic partnership" between Moscow and New Delhi.
India hosts Russia while managing Western ties, focusing on defence, energy, and a $100 billion trade target.
BRICS now includes 11 nations, and the summit will test its unity amid internal disagreements over global conflicts.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to New Delhi on September 12-13, 2026, to attend the annual BRICS Summit, marking his second visit to India in less than a year.
Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov confirmed the dates, following Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's preparatory visit to New Delhi earlier this month.
Why This Visit Matters
The summit takes place at a critical geopolitical moment. Under India's chairmanship theme of "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability," the bloc faces significant internal divisions. The ongoing conflict involving Iran has disrupted global energy supplies, while member nations disagree on responses to Middle East tensions. Iran's deputy foreign minister recently acknowledged that disagreements within BRICS had prevented a unified position on regional conflicts.
For India, hosting Putin requires careful diplomatic balancing. While New Delhi has deepened strategic ties with the United States and Europe, it has simultaneously strengthened its "privileged strategic partnership" with Moscow. India has consistently resisted framing BRICS as an anti-Western coalition, instead advocating for pragmatic economic cooperation and multilateral reform.
Impact On India-Russia Relations
The visit will advance several concrete bilateral initiatives. Lavrov's May discussions with Prime Minister Modi covered joint defence manufacturing, space exploration, and energy cooperation. Both nations aim to reach $100 billion in bilateral trade by 2030 while developing financial mechanisms resistant to "unfriendly pressure from third countries."
Russia has emerged as India's largest oil supplier, and Lavrov confirmed that "Indian counterparts always receive a positive answer to their requests for supplying more energy." Cooperation in peaceful nuclear energy and the International North-South Transport Corridor also feature prominently on the agenda.
BRICS
The grouping now includes 11 member nations, Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and the UAE, representing over 40 percent of global GDP. This expansion has enhanced the bloc's geopolitical weight but also imported regional rivalries that complicate consensus-building.
Putin's September visit will test whether India can preserve BRICS as a platform for the Global South while managing competing interests among its increasingly diverse membership.
