Hugs & handshakes: PM Modi, Russian President Putin send out a message

The Russian foreign ministry on Monday posted its “video of the day” on social media that had Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with their hands clasped, approaching Chinese President Xi Jinping, during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin. 

The clip showed the three leaders, briefly in a huddle along with their aides, sharing good-natured banter. 

The Modi-Putin-Xi huddle, that took place before the start of the plenary session of the SCO summit, had Western media interpret it as a message to US President Donald Trump. 

As the day progressed, there was more of such symbolism, especially the camaraderie that Modi and Putin displayed. 

 

Nearly a fortnight after Modi had posted on social media that he received a phone call from his “friend” Putin to brief him on his Alaska meeting with Trump, the Russian President and the Indian PM’s meeting in Tianjin had the western media talk about their hand holding, hugs and a limousine ride. 

It included an almost 50-minute ‘confidential conversation’ in Putin's Aurus Senat, a heavily armoured luxury limousine of the Russian President. 

India and Moscow’s engagement with each other has become robust after August 7 when Trump signed an executive order imposing a stiff penalty on Indian goods for New Delhi’s purchase of Russian oil. 

On Monday, visuals from Tianjin, and more acerbic comments from White House trade adviser Peter Navarro targeting the Indian PM, suggested that those wishing for an end to the US-India friction, including the US Embassy in New Delhi, may have to wait longer. 

At 11.30 am, just as Modi and Putin were scheduled to meet for bilateral talks in Tianjin, the US Embassy posted on its social media handle that the India-US partnership is a defining relationship of the 21st Century. 

The social media post quoted US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said: “The enduring friendship between our two peoples is the bedrock of our cooperation and propels us forward as we realise the tremendous potential of our economic relationship.”

In Tianjin, as the SCO plenary session concluded around 11 am India time, news agencies reported that Putin waited in his limousine for 10 minutes for Modi before the Indian PM joined him. 

The ride to the hotel where Putin stayed during his Tianjin visit, and also the venue of the bilateral talks between the two leaders, lasted only about 15 minutes. 

But the two leaders, according to Russian news agency Tass, sat inside the car for a further 45 minutes to continue their conversation. 

The two leaders subsequently moved to the negotiating room to join their delegations, which had been waiting. 

The delegation-level talks also lasted 50 minutes. 

“After the proceedings at the SCO Summit venue, President Putin and I travelled together to the venue of our bilateral meeting.  Conversations with him are always insightful,” the PM posted on X. 

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov later said the two leaders talked with each other in the car for about an hour. 

In his remarks at the delegation-level talks, the PM said India and Russia always stood “shoulder-to-shoulder” even in the most difficult situations. These remarks are significant in the context of the plummeting India-US ties. 

Modi-Putin talks focused on expanding bilateral cooperation in economic and financial sectors. 

Bolstering bilateral cooperation in critical areas such as energy, fertiliser and trade also figured prominently in the talks, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said. 

In his televised opening remarks at the meeting, Modi said India welcomes all the recent efforts towards establishing peace in Ukraine, adding it is humanity's call to find a way to end hostilities as soon as possible. 

The Indian side briefed Putin about Modi’s phone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on

Saturday. 

In his comments, Putin said Russia and India have maintained "special friendly and trust-based" relations for decades, and it is the foundation for the future development of ties. 

“These relations are entirely above party politics and enjoy the support of the overwhelming majority of our peoples,” he said.

In his remarks, Modi also said that 1.4 billion Indians are “eagerly waiting” to welcome the Russian leader in India in December.  “Our close cooperation is important not only for the people of both countries, but also for global peace, stability, and prosperity,” said Modi. 

In a related development, India’s oil minister Hardeep Singh Puri, in a signed article in The Hindu, dismissed White House trade advisor Navarro’s ‘laundromat’ remarks. He asserted that India has not violated any rules in purchasing Russian oil since the Ukraine war has helped stabilise global markets and keep prices in check. 

However, in news that broke in India on Monday morning, Navarro told Fox News on Sunday that “Brahmins” are profiteering at the expense of the Indian people and it needs to “stop”. 

Pointing out that the Indian PM is a great leader, Navarro said he doesn’t understand how Modi is cooperating with Putin and Xi when it is the biggest democracy in the world. 

“So I would just simply say, the Indian people, please understand what's going on here. You got Brahmins profiteering at the expense of the Indian people. We need that to stop,” Navarro added.