S Jaishankar sat down with Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Tuesday during a gathering of SCO delegation heads. The timing is no accident: Putin is expected in India in early December for the next India-Russia Summit, and both sides are clearly warming up for it.
Jaishankar later posted on X that he’d conveyed greetings from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, updated Putin on summit prep, and walked through the wider regional and global landscape. He added that he values Putin’s take on how to push the partnership forward.
Kremlin footage showed Putin greeting Jaishankar, who was accompanied by Ambassador Vinay Kumar and Joint Secretary Mayank Singh. On the Russian side, several heavyweights joined in, from Maxim Oreshkin and Yury Ushakov to Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov and Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko.
Jaishankar also squeezed in brief chats with the prime ministers of Mongolia and Qatar, and thanked Russian PM Mikhail Mishustin for hosting the SCO meet, which brought together all ten member countries on 17–18 November.
Back in New Delhi, Putin’s key aide Nikolai Patrushev met Prime Minister Modi to review cooperation across various fields.
A day earlier, Jaishankar and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had taken stock of the relationship. Jaishankar described India-Russia ties as steady and dependable, and said both countries are working through a stack of possible agreements and projects across multiple sectors. He noted that this year’s frequent meetings have helped keep the partnership moving and the conversations candid.
With Putin’s upcoming visit on the horizon, Jaishankar said the two sides will continue to trade views on global issues with the straightforwardness that has long defined their relationship.
