Indian, Russian top diplomats meet in New Delhi ahead of BRICS summit

The top diplomats from India and Russia met Wednesday ahead of a BRICS foreign ministers meeting, which begins Thursday in New Delhi.

External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar wrote on US social media company X that he held a “productive” exchange of views with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov.

“Our conversation touched upon several aspects of the India Russia special and privileged Strategic Partnership, including trade and investment, energy & connectivity, science and technology, as well as facilitating mobility of skills and talent,” wrote Jaishankar, adding “other global and multilateral issues of mutual interest were also discussed.”

The meeting comes ahead of a BRICS foreign ministers meeting, which New Delhi is hosting Thursday and Friday. It will be chaired by Jaishankar.

Late Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi arrived in New Delhi to attend the meeting.

The meeting comes as US President Donald Trump is in Beijing to meet his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, amid the Middle East war and a fragile ceasefire keeping tensions high.

BRICS was formed in 2009 by Brazil, Russia, India and China, with South Africa joining in 2010. Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Indonesia and Iran later joined, expanding the group to 11 members, alongside 10 strategic partner countries.