Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to visit India in December, the Kremlin said on Friday. Foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters the trip would be discussed when Putin meets Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in China.
China is hosting this year’s SCO leaders’ meeting in Tianjin from 31 August to 1 September. Putin is due in the country from 31 August to 3 September, combining the summit with bilateral engagements. He will also hold talks with China’s President Xi Jinping and attend a large military parade in Beijing marking the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, according to Russian and Chinese announcements.
Ushakov said Putin’s programme in China includes a bilateral with Mr Modi, in what would be the two leaders’ first in-person meeting this year. The Kremlin aide added that separate meetings are scheduled with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, and that a bilateral with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un in Beijing was also being explored. AP NewsAl Jazeera
Mr Modi is expected to be in China for the SCO summit; it would be his first trip to the country in seven years. Indian and Chinese officials have maintained limited contact since a deadly 2020 border clash, but both sides have kept channels open through multilateral settings. The Guardian
The December visit to India would align with the established practice of annual summits between the two countries’ leaders. On 8 August, New Delhi said Mr Modi had invited President Putin to India “later this year” for the 23rd India–Russia Annual Summit during a phone call reviewing bilateral priorities. India’s Press Information Bureau and the Ministry of External Affairs noted that both sides committed to deepen their “Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership”. Press Information BureauMEA India
Indian officials have indicated in recent weeks that planning for a Putin visit was advancing. During a trip to Moscow earlier this month, India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval said the dates were “almost finalised”, a comment reported in Indian media. Moscow and New Delhi have kept the annual summit format, though scheduling has varied since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The Times of India
Mr Modi travelled to Russia twice in 2024: to Moscow in July for bilateral talks with President Putin, and to Kazan in October for the BRICS summit hosted by Russia. Those visits restored regular face-to-face engagement after a pause during the pandemic and the initial phase of the war in Ukraine. ReutersWikipedia
Energy and trade have been central to the recent Russia–India agenda. India has become a major buyer of discounted Russian crude since Western sanctions redirected Russian exports, while broader commercial ties have expanded amid constraints on Russia’s trade with Europe and the United States. China is also a key purchaser of Russian oil, a factor that has influenced Moscow’s diplomatic focus. AP News
The SCO summit provides a platform for regional security discussions that regularly draw in adjacent bilateral issues. Created by China and Russia in 2001, the organisation covers cooperation on counter-terrorism, regional stability, and economic links across Central Asia and neighbouring regions. The Tianjin meeting is China’s fifth time hosting the summit and comes as Beijing prepares high-profile commemorations on 3 September, the date of Japan’s formal surrender in 1945. WikipediaState Council of China
Beyond the planned meeting with Mr Modi, Mr Putin’s expected encounters in China underscore a wider diplomatic schedule. Talks with President Erdoğan follow ongoing Russian–Turkish contacts on energy and regional files, including the Black Sea. Engagement with President Pezeshkian reflects deepening Russia–Iran coordination in areas ranging from defence production to sanctions evasion, topics frequently raised by Western governments. A possible meeting with Mr Kim would extend a series of recent Russia–North Korea contacts centred on arms and technology cooperation, though neither Moscow nor Pyongyang has published a detailed agenda. AP NewsAl Jazeera
For New Delhi, the December summit would be an opportunity to review defence cooperation, oil flows, payment mechanisms, and trade imbalances, alongside long-standing civil nuclear and space projects. Indian officials have avoided public criticism of Moscow over Ukraine while calling for dialogue and respect for the UN Charter; at the same time, India’s ties with the United States and Europe have expanded in technology and security. The India–Russia track has therefore run in parallel with India’s other partnerships rather than in opposition to them. AP News
Specific dates for President Putin’s December trip have not been announced. If confirmed, it would be his first visit to India since before the pandemic and the 2022 invasion, adding a set-piece engagement to a year in which Russia has sought to demonstrate sustained ties with major Asian partners. The Kremlin’s timetable indicates that the SCO summit in Tianjin will serve as the venue to settle arrangements with Mr Modi in the coming days. AP News
Beijing’s 3 September parade to bring together Putin, Kim and a small group of other foreign leaders
