Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin reviewed bilateral cooperation in New Delhi as India used its 2026 BRICS chairship to push a wider agenda spanning maritime security, startups, manufacturing, women-led enterprise, logistics and a more resilient global economic system
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Key Takeaways
- Narendra Modi and Vladimir Putin met on September 11 on the sidelines of the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi.
- It was their second meeting in 2026 after their August 31 meeting in Bishkek.
- The leaders reviewed political, economic, defence, energy, space, skill-mobility and people-to-people cooperation.
- Conflicts in West Asia and the Black Sea and their impact on maritime trade and the safety of Indian seafarers were specifically discussed.
- Putin used the BRICS Business Forum to make a pointed comparison between the economic weight of BRICS and the G7.
- Putin said BRICS countries had accounted for more than half of global growth over the previous five years, compared with 18% for the G7.
- India is advancing a BRICS Incubator Network and BRICS Startup Innovation Fund, while Modi has also put forward an ambition involving 1,000 new startups and opportunities for an exchange of 100 startups across participating ecosystems.
- More than 200 women entrepreneurs and business leaders participated in the BRICS Women’s Business Alliance Women-Led Development Summit.
- The proposed BRICS Logistics Supply-Chain Cooperation Framework has direct implications for shipping, ports, cargo movement and multimodal logistics.
- India is attempting to connect diplomacy with manufacturing, startups, logistics and exports rather than treating BRICS only as a political grouping.
- Putin invited Modi to Russia for the 24th India-Russia Annual Summit, which Modi accepted.
New Delhi, India, September 11, 2026 (Maritime News): Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Russian President Vladimir Putin on September 11 on the sidelines of the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi, with the leaders reviewing the progress of bilateral cooperation across political, economic, defence, energy, space, skill mobility and people-to-people domains.
The meeting was their second of 2026, following their August 31 meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek. The earlier meeting had also covered the impact of conflicts in West Asia and the Black Sea region on maritime trade and the safety and security of Indian seafarers. (Press Information Bureau)
Putin’s arrival in New Delhi came against a wider geopolitical backdrop involving the Ukraine conflict, the war in West Asia and growing pressure on global trade and energy routes. The Times of India reported that trade, energy and defence cooperation were expected to figure prominently in the Modi-Putin discussions, while Russia and India continued to explore deeper economic engagement.
Al Jazeera described Putin’s arrival as taking place against a summit dominated by the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, noting that the expanded BRICS grouping includes countries with differing positions on the Middle East conflict.
For maritime India, this backdrop matters because geopolitical conflict increasingly affects shipping routes, energy flows, insurance, vessel operations, port calls and crew safety.
Maritime Trade and Indian Seafarers Specifically Discussed
According to the Press Information Bureau, Modi and Putin exchanged views on regional and global issues, particularly the conflicts in West Asia and the Black Sea region that have impacted maritime trade and the safety and security of Indian seafarers.
The reference is significant because it places seafarers directly within the strategic consequences of geopolitical conflict.
For Indian shipping companies and seafarers, conflict can translate into:
- changes in voyage routes;
- additional security risks;
- higher insurance exposure;
- longer voyages;
- changes in port calls;
- crew-change difficulties;
- emergency-response requirements; and
- uncertainty for cargo owners and charterers.
India is now the world’s second-largest supplier of seafarers, with 311,936 maritime professionals contributing 12.16% of the global seafaring workforce, according to a July 2026 PIB release on India’s seafarer workforce.
The geopolitical discussion therefore has a direct human dimension for India.
Putin Uses BRICS Business Forum to Challenge G7 Economic Dominance
The bilateral meeting took place alongside a much sharper economic message from Putin at the BRICS Business Forum.
Putin questioned the continuing description of the Western grouping as the “Group of Seven”, highlighting the changing economic weight of BRICS.
According to India Today, Putin pointed to BRICS accounting for around 38% of the global economy, compared with 27% for the G7.
But his broader argument went beyond a single GDP comparison.
As reported by Moneycontrol, Putin said that over the previous five years, more than half of global growth had been accounted for by BRICS countries, compared with 18% for the G7.
He also accused Western countries of seeking to reclaim their former leadership and said that sanctions and economic pressure had sometimes taken “ugly” or “unseemly” forms.
The remarks turned the BRICS Business Forum into more than an economic networking event. They placed the summit within a broader debate over who shapes global economic growth and governance.
India Seeks a More Resilient BRICS
India’s 2026 BRICS chairship is built around the theme:
“Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability.”
India has sought to use the chairship to move BRICS beyond political declarations and toward practical cooperation in areas including:
- startups;
- MSMEs;
- manufacturing;
- logistics;
- digital infrastructure;
- innovation;
- energy;
- trade;
- women-led enterprises; and
- technology.
A PIB overview of BRICS under India’s 2026 chairship describes the grouping as having evolved from four emerging economies into a much broader platform spanning four continents and covering economic policy, development, finance, technology, trade and people-to-people exchanges.
The challenge is whether this larger grouping can turn its economic scale into real economic connectivity.
Modi Pushes Startup Cooperation Across BRICS
One of the most ambitious components of India’s BRICS agenda is startup cooperation.
Prime Minister Modi has put forward an ambition for 1,000 new startups, alongside an opportunity for 100 startups to participate in an exchange/interchange programme across participating BRICS ecosystems.
The objective is to make startup cooperation more practical—giving entrepreneurs opportunities to access markets, investors, incubators, technology, mentors and international business partners.
The initiative fits into the wider institutional architecture India has been building.
The BRICS Incubator Network is designed as a digital interface connecting national nodal agencies, selected incubators and startups across BRICS countries. It can facilitate registration, linkages with participating incubators and referrals of qualified startups to incubators in other BRICS countries. (PIB)
The BRICS Startup Innovation Fund is intended to catalyse financing for early- and growth-stage startups and foster innovation-driven entrepreneurship across BRICS countries. (PIB)
India had already proposed both mechanisms during the BRICS Industry Ministers’ Meeting in Jaipur, where ministers adopted a joint declaration covering cooperation on MSMEs, photovoltaics, startups and logistics. (PIB)
The broader technology track has also recognised the BRICS Youth Startup Platform, while encouraging greater mobility of young innovators and researchers and access to international markets. (PIB)
India Already Has a Large Startup Base
The BRICS startup push builds on India’s domestic startup ecosystem.
Government figures released in 2026 put the number of DPIIT-recognised startups at more than 2.3 lakh, with more than 120 unicorn companies and over 23 lakh jobs created by startups as of April 2026. (PIB)
That provides India with a substantial base from which to build international startup cooperation.
The significance for the maritime economy is also growing.
A startup that develops a port technology, shipping software, logistics platform, maritime-security solution, shipbuilding technology or supply-chain service can potentially move from a domestic market into a wider BRICS market.
200+ Women Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders Bring Another Dimension
The BRICS economic agenda has also placed women-led enterprises prominently within India’s chairship.
More than 200 women entrepreneurs and business leaders from BRICS+ countries participated in the BRICS WBA Women-Led Development Summit 2026 in New Delhi.
The focus included access to capital, markets and predictable rules, with women business leaders also calling for stronger institutional mechanisms to sustain commitments on finance, technology, market access and cross-border partnerships.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has separately called for greater participation of women-owned enterprises in BRICS exhibitions, trade fairs, forums and buyer-seller meetings, while urging the proposed Women’s Advancement Fund to become a concrete initiative. (PIB)
India’s domestic experience is also significant. Government data cited in the BRICS discussions indicates that more than 45% of India’s recognised startups have at least one woman partner or director. (PIB)
This gives the women-led business agenda a direct connection to India’s startup and innovation ecosystem.
From Startups to Manufacturing
The startup agenda is only one part of India’s larger economic objective.
The more difficult question is whether BRICS cooperation can help India expand its manufacturing and export capacity.
An analysis by The Indian Express highlights India’s continuing trade imbalance with Russia and the larger manufacturing challenge facing India.
The article notes that India’s exports to Russia remain below $5 billion, while Russian exports to India were about $63.8 billion in 2024–25.
That is not merely a bilateral trade statistic.
If India wants to use BRICS to expand exports, Indian businesses must have competitive products to sell.
Diplomacy can create access.
Manufacturing creates the cargo.
India-China Trade Adds Another Manufacturing Challenge
The same Indian Express analysis highlights a second structural challenge: India’s dependence on Chinese machinery, electronics, chemicals, components and other intermediate and capital goods.
India-China bilateral trade reached about $151 billion in 2025–26, while India’s trade deficit with China rose to roughly $112 billion, according to the report. (The Indian Express)
This creates a difficult economic balance.
India wants stronger domestic manufacturing and greater economic resilience, but Indian industry also depends heavily on competitively priced Chinese inputs.
The issue therefore extends beyond diplomacy.
It reaches the factory floor—and eventually the port.
The BRICS Logistics Framework Directly Connects the Summit to Maritime India
For the maritime sector, one of the most important initiatives under discussion is the BRICS Logistics Supply-Chain Cooperation Framework.
The framework is designed as a voluntary, consensus-based mechanism to strengthen cross-sector transport logistics resilience and sustainability.
According to The Indian Express, the framework aims to address fragmented supply chains and weak connectivity through:
- technical exchange;
- knowledge-sharing on cargo and shipping services;
- localised assembly and manufacturing ecosystems;
- capacity building;
- environmentally sustainable logistics; and
- climate-resilient logistics practices.
This is particularly significant against the background of disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz and wider uncertainty affecting global trade routes.
For MaritimeNews, this is where the BRICS economic agenda becomes directly connected to ports and shipping.
What the Logistics Framework Could Mean for Ports
A resilient supply chain cannot be built by looking at shipping alone.
It requires coordination between:
Factory → road → rail → port → vessel → destination port → inland logistics → final customer.
The proposed BRICS framework therefore has implications for:
- port infrastructure;
- cargo handling;
- customs;
- shipping services;
- freight forwarding;
- rail connectivity;
- road logistics;
- inland terminals;
- digital documentation;
- supply-chain visibility; and
- climate resilience.
India has already made transport cooperation a central part of its BRICS chairship.
The BRICS Transport Ministers’ Meeting in Nagpur identified resilient logistics supply chains, multimodal transport, decarbonisation, sustainable aviation fuel and AI-based technologies among the areas of cooperation.
The maritime sector cannot therefore be separated from the broader BRICS transport architecture.
BRICS Is Becoming an Economic Network, Not Just a Political Grouping
The significance of the New Delhi summit is that several apparently separate initiatives are beginning to connect.
Startups
Connect entrepreneurs and innovation.
Startup Fund
Connect capital with early and growth-stage businesses.
Women-led enterprise
Expand participation in international trade.
Manufacturing
Create products and exportable goods.
Logistics
Move those goods efficiently.
Ports and shipping
Connect those goods to global markets.
That creates a much more complete economic chain.
The Human Side: Seafarers at the End of the Geopolitical Chain
The economic architecture ultimately rests on people.
A container ship, tanker or bulk carrier is an economic asset, but it is also a workplace.
When conflict affects a shipping route, seafarers experience the consequences directly.
Their concerns include:
- safe passage;
- access to emergency assistance;
- crew changes;
- medical support;
- communication with families;
- repatriation; and
- continuity of employment.
This is why the explicit reference to Indian seafarers in the Modi-Putin discussions is important.
It brings the human dimension into a conversation otherwise dominated by GDP, trade, investment and geopolitical influence.
BRICS and the Wider Global South
The summit also needs to be viewed in the context of the expanded BRICS membership.
ThePrint reported on the large number of leaders and delegations gathering in New Delhi and the significance of the bilateral meetings surrounding the summit.
The BBC’s BRICS coverage similarly places the summit within the broader debate over the changing global order.
The grouping now brings together major energy producers, manufacturing economies, emerging markets and strategically important maritime states.
That makes BRICS increasingly relevant to the movement of:
energy → commodities → manufactured goods → shipping → ports → logistics → consumers.
Putin’s Challenge Is Also an Economic Challenge
Putin’s G7 remarks should therefore not be viewed only as political rhetoric.
His central argument was that the centre of global economic growth is shifting.
If BRICS countries account for an increasing share of global growth, the next question is whether they can create institutions and infrastructure capable of supporting that growth.
That means:
- financing;
- payment systems;
- trade;
- startups;
- manufacturing;
- logistics;
- ports;
- shipping;
- energy security; and
- technology.
The BRICS Business Forum therefore matters because it brings the political and business sides of the grouping together.
Payments and Local Currencies
The economic discussion also extends to the way BRICS countries settle trade.
Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has called for stronger payment-system linkages and greater use of local currencies in trade.
The objective is to make cross-border transactions more resilient and less dependent on a single financial architecture.
For businesses, however, payment connectivity will need to be accompanied by:
- predictable trade rules;
- customs interoperability;
- digital documentation;
- insurance mechanisms;
- banking access;
- currency-conversion arrangements; and
- reliable logistics.
A payment system can settle a transaction.
A ship still has to move the cargo.
Modi-Putin Talks Link Diplomacy With Maritime Security
The India-Russia relationship has a particularly strong energy and trade dimension.
The Times of India report on Putin’s arrival noted that trade, energy and defence were expected to figure prominently in the discussions, while also reporting that India and Russia were exploring cooperation in areas including rare earths and aerospace manufacturing.
The meeting therefore sits at the intersection of:
energy security + industrial cooperation + trade + maritime transport + geopolitical security.
The maritime route is the physical link connecting many of these interests.
Modi’s Diplomatic Approach: Dialogue and Diplomacy
During the meeting, Modi reiterated that dialogue and diplomacy are the way forward for resolving conflicts and said India was ready to assist in peace efforts.
The position is consistent with the message conveyed during the August 31 Modi-Putin meeting in Bishkek, when the two leaders discussed the effects of the West Asia and Black Sea conflicts on maritime trade and Indian seafarers. (PIB)
For shipping, diplomatic de-escalation can have tangible economic consequences.
A safer route can mean:
- fewer diversions;
- lower risk premiums;
- more predictable schedules;
- safer crews;
- more stable port calls; and
- lower logistics uncertainty.
Modi-Putin Meeting Is Only One Part of the BRICS Story
The scale of the New Delhi summit is much larger than the India-Russia relationship.
The Hindu BusinessLine has highlighted the broad participation surrounding the summit.
The wider diplomatic environment also includes China’s President Xi Jinping, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian and leaders and representatives from other BRICS members and partner countries.
The Al Jazeera report noted that Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE bring sharply different positions on the Middle East conflict into the expanded grouping.
That diversity is simultaneously BRICS’ strength and its challenge.
Can a Diverse BRICS Deliver Practical Cooperation?
BRICS countries do not have identical political interests.
They do not have identical security positions.
They do not have identical economic models.
Yet India’s 2026 chairship is attempting to find areas where practical cooperation is possible despite those differences.
Startups are one.
Logistics is another.
Women-led businesses are another.
Digital infrastructure, manufacturing, energy and trade are additional areas.
The measure of success will therefore not necessarily be whether every member agrees on every geopolitical question.
It may instead be whether they can build working economic mechanisms despite those disagreements.
Putin Invites Modi to Russia
The Modi-Putin meeting produced a clear next step.
President Putin invited Prime Minister Modi to Russia for the 24th India-Russia Annual Summit.
Modi accepted the invitation.
The dates will be decided through diplomatic channels according to mutual convenience.
The next summit will provide another opportunity to assess whether political relations are translating into greater two-way trade, investment, manufacturing cooperation and economic connectivity.
What This Means for India’s Maritime Sector
The BRICS agenda emerging from New Delhi has a direct relevance for India’s maritime economy.
If startup cooperation produces new businesses, those businesses can produce goods.
If manufacturing expands, cargo volumes can increase.
If trade grows, ports can handle more cargo.
If supply chains become more resilient, shipping schedules can become more predictable.
If payment and trade systems become easier, cross-border commerce can expand.
But if geopolitical conflicts continue to disrupt major sea routes, maritime security risks can undermine those economic gains.
That is why economic resilience and maritime resilience cannot be separated.
MaritimeNews Insight: BRICS Will Ultimately Be Tested at the Port
The most important question is not simply whether BRICS represents a larger share of global GDP than the G7.
The harder question is whether that economic weight can be converted into real businesses, real factories, real trade, real cargo and real employment.
That conversion will eventually become visible at ports.
A startup creates a product.
A factory produces it at scale.
A logistics system moves it.
A customs broker clears it.
A port handles it.
A ship carries it.
A seafarer operates the vessel.
A foreign customer receives it.
That is where geopolitical ambition becomes an economic reality.
India’s BRICS chairship is attempting to build precisely this chain—through startups, women-led enterprises, manufacturing, finance, logistics and trade.
At the same time, the Modi-Putin discussion has highlighted the vulnerability of that chain to war and geopolitical instability.
BRICS may become more economically resilient only when its countries can make their economies, supply chains and maritime routes more resilient together.
For India, that means the success of the 2026 chairship will ultimately be measured not only in declarations issued in New Delhi, but in what moves between BRICS countries after the summit—from investment and technology to manufactured goods, containers and bulk cargo, and in the safety of the seafarers who carry them.
Sources and Further Reading
- Press Information Bureau — Modi-Putin meeting, September 11
- PIB — Modi-Putin meeting at Bishkek, August 31
- PIB — BRICS: Evolution, Cooperation and India’s Leadership
- PIB — BRICS Incubator Network and Startup Innovation Fund
- PIB — BRICS Industry Ministers’ Meeting
- PIB — Women-led enterprises in BRICS trade
- PIB — India becomes world’s second-largest supplier of seafarers
- PIB — BRICS Transport Ministers’ Meeting
- The Times of India — Putin arrives in India ahead of BRICS Summit
- Al Jazeera — Putin lands in India for BRICS Summit
- BBC — BRICS Summit 2026 coverage
- The Hindu BusinessLine — Who’s attending the 18th BRICS Summit
- ThePrint — 13 world leaders at BRICS and why the summit matters
- India Today — Putin’s G7 remarks and BRICS economic weight
- Moneycontrol — Putin’s BRICS Business Forum remarks
- The Indian Express — BRICS startup, incubator and logistics framework
- The Indian Express — India’s manufacturing challenges
- Pragativadi — BRICS Summit 2026 and India-Russia/BRICS developments
- IndiaTV — Putin’s BRICS remarks and summit developments
- Business Standard — BRICS cooperation on MSMEs, startups and supply chains
- Economic Times — BRICS 2026 startup, supply-chain and green-energy agenda
- The Quint — BRICS payment integration and local-currency trade
- NDTV — BRICS Summit 2026 live developments
- ANI — BRICS Women’s Business Alliance and women-led development
- Economic Times — Delhi security arrangements for BRICS Summit
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Reporting by MaritimeNews Bureaus, Writing and Editing by Jaspal Singh Naol.
