PM Modi holds hands with Putin, Xi in striking photo from BRICS Summit

The moment comes against the backdrop of India's efforts to strengthen ties with both Russia and China while maintaining its strategic partnerships with other major powers.

In Short

• Summit being held amid tensions conflicts in Middle East and Ukraine
• India aims to balance ties with Russia, China amid global uncertainties
• PM also seen holding hands with Iranian President on Friday

A picture speaks a thousand words. And when it brings together the leaders of three major world powers, it speaks a million.

A photograph released on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in New Delhi shows PM Narendra Modi standing between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, holding hands with both leaders as they share a light-hearted moment.

The image comes as India hosts the summit amid tensions over the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine. New Delhi is also working to strengthen ties with Russia and China while maintaining its partnerships with other major powers like the US and its Western allies.

India, China and Russia were among the four founding members of BRIC, along with Brazil, when the grouping took shape in 2006. South Africa was invited to join in 2010 and attended its first summit as a member in 2011, giving BRICS the name it still uses today.

Putin arrived in New Delhi on September 11 and held bilateral talks with PM Modi on Friday. During the meeting, Modi reiterated his call for dialogue and diplomacy to resolve the Ukraine conflict and raised the safety of Indian seafarers.

Xi, meanwhile, is visiting India for the first time in seven years. PM Modi and Xi are scheduled to hold talks on the sidelines of the summit, with border issues, trade and investment likely to be high on the agenda.

A day earlier, a photograph of the Prime Minister holding hands with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian went viral online. It drew attention amid the conflict involving Iran, which has disrupted energy supplies and maritime trade.

As he did during his talks with Putin, PM Modi called for dialogue and diplomacy to resolve the conflict in West Asia during his meeting with the Iranian President.

The two photographs capture India’s continued focus on a non-aligned foreign policy in an increasingly fractured world.

New Delhi has maintained that it stands for peace and dialogue while avoiding alignment with rival geopolitical camps, an approach that also informs its stewardship of the BRICS Summit.

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