After the handshake with Xi, talks with Putin: What’s on Modi’s Tianjin agenda today

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri confirmed that Modi will first address the SCO plenary session, “where he will outline India’s approach to fostering regional cooperation under the SCO umbrella.”

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri confirmed that the Prime Minister will address the plenary session of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin this morning, “where he will outline India’s approach to fostering regional cooperation under the SCO umbrella.” After that, Modi will hold a bilateral with Putin, “following which he will depart for India,” Misri said during a special briefing on Sunday.

It is Modi and Putin’s first in-person encounter since October 2024, when they met at the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia. It is also their first since Donald Trump returned to the US presidency.

On August 7, Trump signed an executive order imposing a 25 percent penalty on Indian goods as punishment for buying Russian oil. The duties came into effect on August 27, lifting tariffs on many product lines close to 50 percent.

• Modi and Putin spoke twice by phone after Trump signed the executive order on August 7.
• External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar was in Moscow on August 22, discussing energy cooperation, joint extraction projects in the Russian Far East and Arctic shelf, and ways to balance trade.
• NSA Ajit Doval visited Russia in early August.
• Reports suggest Putin’s India visit to India has been finalised for December for the Annual Summit.

1) Payments: The RBI off-ramp is ready

On August 12, the Reserve Bank of India allowed balances in Special Rupee Vostro Accounts (SRVAs) to be fully invested in Indian government securities . This policy shift makes rupee settlement more attractive for partners like Russia. Talks on linking India’s RuPay network with Russia’s Mir card system are also active .

2) Oil: Focus on September barrels

India’s refiners are already booking more Russian crude for September. Reuters reported Urals cargoes sold at $2–3 per barrel discounts to Brent, with Reliance and Nayara expected to raise intake by 10–20 percent.

US tariffs don’t touch crude imports, so cheap Russian oil remains critical.

3) Trade balance: India’s export push

India has told Russia it wants to increase exports of medicines, farm products and textiles to narrow the trade deficit. Jaishankar explicitly asked Moscow to remove non-tariff barriers that block Indian goods.

Russia is India’s fourth-largest trading partner, while India is Russia’s second-largest, but the trade balance heavily favours Moscow. A line on market access, NTB removal or sector-specific task forces in the readout would indicate follow-through.

4) Defence: the S-400 delay is now public

Three of five ordered S-400 regiments are in India. The last two will arrive only in 2026–27, according to Indian and Russian officials.

If the readout today narrows that delivery window or mentions spares and maintenance, that is more important than broad 'strategic partnership' language.

The Modi–Putin bilateral follows a packed weekend:

Modi met Xi Jinping in Tianjin on August 31, their first in-person interaction since BRICS Kazan. India and China declared themselves 'development partners and not rivals' and agreed ties should not be viewed 'through a third-country lens.'

Modi also met Politburo Standing Committee member Cai Qi, signalling Beijing wants the reset pushed through the Party centre.

Modi later attended Xi’s official SCO reception at the Tianjin Meijiang Centre, where he joined Putin, Xi and other leaders for a group photograph. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Deputy PM Alexey Overchuk, aide Yury Ushakov and spokesman Dmitry Peskov were in Putin’s delegation, according to TASS.

Ahead of Tianjin, Modi spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky over the phone about the conflict’s humanitarian toll and peace efforts.