Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit New Delhi on December 4–5 for a state visit and the 23rd India–Russia Annual Summit, a meeting that both capitals now see as strategically charged amidst India’s tariff tensions with the United States, tightening Western sanctions on Russia and New Delhi’s preparations to assume the BRICS chairship in 2026.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs confirmed the dates after Moscow’s earlier signal, marking what officials privately describe as a summit shaped less by tradition and more by the overlapping economic and geopolitical pressures facing the two partners.
Putin, in comments to Russian media, called ties with India “special, steady and free of interstate frictions,” praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a “balanced and nationally oriented leader,” and stressed that both sides must resolve long-standing logistical and payment hurdles to keep trade running efficiently.
His remarks have intensified expectations for progress on financial architecture, especially the push to make Russia’s Mir card and India’s RuPay network interoperable. With Visa and Mastercard restricted in Russia since 2022, a Mir–RuPay corridor has become one of Moscow’s most urgent priorities, and Indian officials say technical discussions are now in “advanced alignment” after External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s meeting with Putin in Moscow. The two governments are also exploring a possible link between Russia’s SBP instant payments system and India’s UPI, a digital settlement bridge that would allow real-time transactions insulated from the Western sanctions framework.
For India, the move would bolster RuPay’s global ambitions and reinforce UPI’s position as a model for international payments—an agenda New Delhi intends to showcase during its BRICS presidency. In its announcement, the MEA said the leaders will review progress across defence, trade and security, while Moscow’s statement emphasised that “all aspects” of the partnership will be discussed.
Privately, officials acknowledge that this summit is distinct: India is reassessing trade dependencies amid friction with the US, Russia needs stable economic corridors beyond China, and both countries are increasingly invested in parallel financial and technological systems that reduce exposure to global fragmentation.
On defence, India is expected to signal interest in additional S-400 air defence units following their performance during Operation Sindoor, though Russian hopes of elevating discussions on the Su-57 stealth fighter remain unlikely to advance.
Reports said the Indian side would emphasise the early delivery of the two remaining S-400 batteries, and the upgradation and spares needed for India’s existing Sukhoi fleet. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that the Russians have promised to deliver the remaining two of the five S-400 systems ordered in 2018 in the coming financial year.
I don’t want to talk about specific procurement decisions…I am not going to be talking about specific platforms, but we have a large defence programme with them, including existing contracts which are delayed,” said Singh, speaking at a defence conclave organised by news agency Asian News International (ANI). “There are a bunch of programmes where there are delivery milestone delays, which we will take up with them and try to expedite those. There are other major programmes like the Sukhoi upgradation Potentially, additional S-400 batteries are not ruled out, but don’t expect any announcements during this meeting,’ he said.
Talks on a visa-free tourist group regime have also advanced substantially, with Moscow indicating that only minor procedural details remain. A political announcement may come during or shortly after the summit, a development that—paired with Mir–RuPay interoperability—would significantly simplify travel for Indian and Russian tourists.
Meanwhile, despite the surge in Russian oil shipments to India, the trade mechanism is strained by shipping restrictions, insurance constraints and a swelling rupee surplus stuck in Indian banks. Putin’s recent comments about improving “logistics, financing and payments” suggest he expects concrete direction from this round of discussions, and energy officials say both sides may weigh new settlement routes or selective use of third-country currencies to reduce risks for Indian refiners.
Beyond bilateral issues, India’s upcoming BRICS 2026 chairmanship looms large: the Mir–RuPay–UPI–SBP proposals could serve as early models for broader BRICS financial cooperation as the grouping expands and experiments with alternative economic tools. However, the Indian side is likely to weigh this against U.S. President Donald Trump’s clear warning against any attempt to undermine the US dollar.
Against a backdrop of shifting energy flows, fractured supply chains and bifurcated financial systems, Putin’s visit is shaping up as a consequential negotiation over how India and Russia intend to move money, goods and strategy in a more divided global order.
