PM Modi met Russian President Putin on the sidelines of the SCO Summit in Kyrgyzstan, reviewing the India-Russia strategic partnership ahead of their next meeting at the BRICS Summit in New Delhi.

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• PM Narendra Modi attended the 26th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on August 31, 2026, during a two-day visit.
• The summit, chaired by Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, marked the 25th anniversary of the SCO and also drew Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
• Modi held a bilateral meeting with Putin on the sidelines, their first face-to-face interaction since their annual summit in December 2025.
• The Ministry of External Affairs said the two leaders would review the India-Russia privileged strategic partnership across its full spectrum of cooperation.
• Energy and fertiliser supplies were among the key agenda items, with Russia remaining one of India's major crude oil suppliers amid West Asia-related supply uncertainty.
• Defence cooperation featured prominently, with the remaining deliveries of S-400 air defence systems and plans for local maintenance and repair facilities in India under discussion.
• India and Russia also discussed cooperation in nuclear energy and fertiliser plants, alongside efforts toward greater localisation of spare-parts production.
• The two leaders were expected to meet again shortly afterward at the BRICS Summit hosted by India in New Delhi on September 12-13, 2026.
• Modi also held a separate bilateral engagement with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who said continuing the West Asia conflict served neither Iran's nor the region's interests.
• India said its message at the summit centred on "Security, Connectivity and Opportunity," citing terrorism, separatism and extremism as continuing concerns.
• No formal bilateral meeting between Modi and Xi Jinping was scheduled, though the two leaders were seen briefly interacting after the summit's group photograph.