From Bollywood and Vande Bharat to Arctic: What's on the agenda when Modi-Putin meet at Brics

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will soon be in Russia (22 October).

Modi, who is visiting Russia at the invitation of President Vladimir Putin, will attend the Brics Summit in Kazan and have a bilateral meeting with the Russian president on the sidelines of the event.

This will be the 16th Brics Summit. This year’s theme is ‘Strengthening Multilateralism for Just Global Development and Security.’

“The Summit, themed ‘Strengthening Multilateralism for Just Global Development and Security’, will provide an important platform for leaders to discuss key global issues,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement.

“The summit will offer a valuable opportunity to assess the progress of initiatives launched by Brics and to identify potential areas for future collaboration,” it added.

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Modi visited Russia in June after being sworn in for his third term. The prime minister also visited Ukraine in July.

Putin had in September invited Modi for a bilateral meet on the sidelines of the Brics summit.

“We will be expecting Mr Modi in Kazan. I also suggest holding a bilateral meeting there on October 22 to close the books on our joint work in implementing the agreements reached during his visit to Moscow and outline some prospects for the near future,” Putin said.

“Please extend my warmest regards and best wishes to Mr Modi, my good friend,” he added.

But what is on the agenda When Modi and Putin meet at Brics?

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Let’s take a closer look:

Vande Bharat

Hindustan Times quoted people in the know as saying that regulatory and technical issues affecting the $6.5-billion joint venture project for building Vande Bharat trains by Russia’s Transmashholding (TMH) will likely be brought up.

Russia’s CJSC Transmashholding and Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (TMH-RVNL) consortium in March 2023 had won the Rs 58,000-crore contract to manufacture 200 Vande Bharat trains and maintain for the next 35 years – at a price of Rs 120 crore per train set.

However, the government had reduced the order to 120 train sets at a cost of Rs 36,000 crore, as per the newspaper.

The Vande Bharat is a semi-high-speed train consisting of 16 self-propelled coaches, which eliminate the need for a separate locomotive. This system, known as distributed traction power, has become increasingly popular worldwide for passenger operations.

The central government had in the Budget for 2021-22 set an ambitious target to manufacture 400 Vande Bharat trains in India by the end of 2024-25.

Hindustan Times reported that the Russian side had flagged issues stalling the project during Modi’s July visit.

The Centre later postponed the consortium’s request for altering shareholding structure in the special purpose vehicle (SPV) Kinet Railway Solutions Ltd.

The change would not affect the RVNL’s equity stake, officials said.

“The SPV has three equity partners – RVNL and two related Russian entities. The request is for a change in shareholding structure among the two existing Russian companies, apparently to avoid Western sanctions. The regulatory approval is pending for long, without citing any particular reason,” an official said on condition of anonymity.

TMH is among the Russian firms sanctioned by the West, as per Hindustan Times.

The Centre is looking to further decrease the number of train sets.

“Now the government wants to further reduce the number of train sets while increasing the number of cars per train from 16 to 24. All these hurdles are expected to delay the project,” the official added.

Bollywood

Putin has said he wants to work with Modi to promote Indian movies in Russia, as per Mint.

The Russian president, President ahead of the summit, remarked about the popularity of Indian cinema in Russia.

Putin said Russia has a channel that shows Bollywood movies “day and night.”

CNBC quoted Putin as saying that among all foreign films, Indian cinema was the most popular.

Putin indicated that Moscow might offer Indian film makers ‘incentives’ to shoot in Russia.

He said Russia and New Delhi would find ‘common ground.’

He also noted that the Moscow Film Festival was playing movies from Brics nations.

Putin said Bollywood is among the industries that need to be discussed, as per Mint.

“Cinema products and film industry are a part of the economy, and is to be duly regulated. India has made a lot of decisions to protect its own market,” Putin was quoted as saying.

“I am sure we will come to terms 100 per cent, we are positive that if the Indian friends have this interest, we will find common ground to promote Indian films to the Russian market,” Putin added.

The Arctic

According to the Economic Times, Modi and Putin will discuss India’s role in the resource-rich Russian Arctic region and Northern Sea Route (NSR).

The India-Russia working group on cooperation in NSR this month held its first meeting, according to The Hindu.

According to The Times of India, training Indian sailors in polar navigation and joint shipbuilding in the Arctic were discussed.

A memorandum of understanding over cargo shipping in the NSR –  around 5,600 kilometres in Arctic waters under Russia’s exclusive economic zone and the shortest shipping route between the western part of Eurasia and the Asia-Pacific – was also drafted.

India’s group head was Rajesh Kumar Sinha, deputy minister of ports, shipping and waterways, while Russia’s was Vladimir Panov, Rosatom Special Representative for the Arctic Development, deputy chairman of the State Commission for the Arctic Development.

Russia in 2018 had assigned the state firm Rosatom to be the infrastructure operator of the NSR.

India will be constructing  four non-nuclear icebreakers for Russia for NSR, people familiar with the matter told Economic Times.

Modi and Putin earlier discussed the NSR and the Arctic during the 22nd India-Russia annual summit in Moscow.

A joint statement issued in the aftermath of the summit spoke about the Arctic.

The Modi-Putin meeting could also examine various other issues including financial, energy, defence and conflicts around the world, as per the newspaper.

Defence expert Shiwalee Deshpande weighed in on the importance of the India-Russia relationship, and said the two countries are ‘strategic partners’ and their relationship is growing day by day.

Highlighting the “long-standing” friendship between New Delhi and Moscow, she recalled that Moscow helped India not just in the 1971 war but has throughout been the main supplier of India’s defence needs.

Speaking to ANI, Deshpande said, “India is going to become a superpower very soon. So owing to this and owing to the relationship that Russia has with India, the relationship is going stronger day by day.”

She added that the bonhomie between the leaders of the two countries adds positively to their relationship.

“Vladimir Putin and Narendra Modi are very close friends as well. So this relationship is being viewed with very other different angles. The different angles are that we are friends not only in strategic matters, we are friends in political matters, we are friends in economic matters, we are friends in the trade matters, and all the other matters,” Deshpande added.

The defence expert further noted that the world watches this growing India-Russia relationship as “very strategic.”

“Russia is our biggest partner in every field. And in any matter, Russia and India will always be friends,” Deshpande said. “The world sees the friendship between us and Russia as very strategic.”

Ukraine

As per CNBC, Putin in his remarks before the summit recognised Modi’s concerns.

Referring to Modi as a friend, Putin said he appreciated India’s interest in peace negotiations.

However, he added that the situation is Ukraine is ‘complex.’

The Russian president cited Nato’s involvement as an example and said it lengthens the war.

Putin also expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his concern over the Ukraine war and efforts towards paving a solution to the conflict raging for close to three years.

“While talking with PM Modi, each time he raises this matter and expresses his considerations. We are thankful to him for that,” President Putin said at a media briefing ahead of Brics Summit.

Putin also echoed Prime Minister Modi’s stance on Brics, emphasising that the grouping is not anti-Western but rather non-Western ahead of the group’s summit in October.

“Brics is not an anti-Western group; it’s just a non-Western group,” Putin said. “Brics does not counterpose itself to anyone. It is a group of nations that work in concert, have shared values and shared goals of development and consider each other’s interests. This will be the basis of our working cause. said Russian President Vladimir Putin,” he added.

Foreign Affairs Expert Robinder Sachdev said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Russia for the BRICS summit is important, because he will be meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and can share his insights on resolving the Ukraine conflict.

India has emphasised the need for sincere and practical engagement between all stakeholders to develop innovative solutions that will have broad acceptability and contribute towards early restoration of peace in the Ukraine conflict that started in February 2022.

India has also expressed its willingness to contribute in all possible ways to facilitate an early return of peace.

Speaking to ANI, Sachdev said, “Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the BRICS summit can turn out to be something very interesting. One, of course, the PM will be participating in the BRICS platform, wherein all BRICS countries are there. The various agendas of BRICS countries will be discussed. But apart from that, there are two bilaterals, which are very interesting to see.”

“One will be a bilateral with President Putin, which most probably will happen. That bilateral is extremely important because Prime Minister Modi met Putin immediately after getting re-elected for his third term. And Prime Minister has proposed that India will play a proactive role in the Ukraine conflict. After meeting Putin, President Modi went and met Zelenskyy,” he said.

Sachdev said that as this meeting between Putin and PM Modi is after his meeting with Ukraine President Zelenskyy and US President Joe Biden, he might be able to share insights with Putin on the discussions he had, and can suggest a “viable middle path.”

“Prime Minister has completed a circle of meeting other world leaders, and now back to Putin. So this will be a time, when Putin and PM Modi will discuss a Ukraine formula, whereas India is in a situation to push it. So that’s what will be the most important bilateral. We may not know whatever discussions are held, decision that it is going to and it is playing a very proactive role in helping to resolve the Ukraine conflict. So, the next step on that, India is right now exploring the potential, views of different parties concerned. So I think this will be an occasion for Prime Minister Modi to share with Putin what feedback Prime Minister Modi has been able to get, what he thinks can be a viable middle path for, a pause in the Ukraine conflict. It may be too early, but this will be a step towards that,” he said.

With inputs from agencies