Putin lands in India for BRICs summit, shadowed by Iran and Ukraine wars

Russian, Iranian leaders due to hold talks with India’s Modi at summit dominated by wars in the Middle East and Ukraine.Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in the Indian capital on Friday ahead of an 11-member BRICS summit set to be dominated by wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, as well as economic challenges.Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian are due to hold talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while Chinese President Xi Jinping is also expected to meet Modi on the sidelines of the two-day meeting.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Trump says Putin wants to make a deal to end Ukraine warlist 2 of 4Europe’s far right: Putin’s best friend?list 3 of 4UN envoy warns Security Council Yemen’s war has entered ‘dangerous phase’list 4 of 4Iran claims to have captured a US ‘sail drone’ near Hormuz Straitend of listPutin arrived at Palam Air Force Station in New Delhi, where he was greeted by India’s Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh, according to footage broadcast by Russia’s Ria Novosti news agency.Posters of a beaming Modi lined streets across New Delhi to welcome leaders, with heavy deployments of security forces across the capital and widespread traffic restrictions in central districts. Delhi police have urged people to be patient and cooperative.BRICS, which stands for the original members of the grouping – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – was created in 2009 as a forum for major emerging economies seeking greater influence in institutions dominated by Western powers.It has since expanded, and now includes Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – three countries with sharply differing positions on the Iran" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="38678" data-entity-type="event">US-Israel war on Iran launched in February.“The Gulf conflict is going to be the central fault line this time during the BRICS summit,” Harsh V Pant of India’s Observer Research Foundation told the AFP news agency.“What was seen until last year as an achievement – the expansion of BRICS – today looks like a big constraint on BRICS,” Pant said.