Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin displayed warm camaraderie on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit in Tianjin, China. The two leaders were seen sharing a hug and later riding together in a car en route to their bilateral meeting.
PM Modi shared photographs of the meeting on social media, writing: “Always a delight to meet President Putin!” In another post, he highlighted their car ride together, calling his conversations with the Russian leader “always insightful.”
The cordial exchanges come at a sensitive moment, with US President Donald Trump recently imposing sweeping 50% tariffs on Indian imports, citing India’s continued purchase of Russian oil. Trump has warned of further secondary sanctions on nations trading energy with Russia, linking such revenues to the Ukraine war.
India has defended its energy policy as guided by market availability and national interest, rejecting accusations that its oil trade fuels conflict. Despite Washington’s pressure, New Delhi has reaffirmed its strategic partnership with Moscow.
The Modi-Putin meeting also comes weeks after Trump and Putin held talks in Alaska over Ukraine. Notably, Trump claimed that Russia had “lost an oil client” in India, though bilateral energy and defense ties between New Delhi and Moscow remain robust.
This SCO Summit marks PM Modi’s first visit to China in seven years. He and Chinese President Xi Jinping were seen exchanging courtesies, their first meeting in nearly a year after last October’s Kazan summit in Russia, where both sides sought to ease tensions along the Line of Actual Control.
