Underlining the time tested ties between the two countries, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday shared a ride in a ‘made in Russia’ Aurus Senate for their bilateral meeting. The two leaders had talks for nearly 45 minutes during the ride, it was learnt.
It later emerged that President Putin wanted to travel alongside Prime Minister Modi from the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit venue to the venue of the bilateral talks between the two leaders at a hotel. Putin reportedly waited nearly 10 minutes for Modi to join him before they left together. “After the proceedings at the SCO Summit venue, President Putin and I travelled together to the venue of our bilateral meeting. Conversations with him are always insightful,” Modi said later in a social media post.
The statement show of friendship was both personal and strategic in the face of US President Donald Trump’s punitive and unfair tariffs on India over its Russian oil purchases.
The unusual carpool followed a warm embrace earlier in the day, when Modi and Putin greeted each other at the summit venue. Cameras captured the hug, which quickly went viral on social media. Modi later amplified the moment on X, writing: “Always a delight to meet President Putin!”
The day also produced rare images of Modi in animated conversation with both Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Videos and photographs showed the three exchanging smiles, handshakes and light moments together. Modi posted photographs of the interactions, remarking: “Interactions in Tianjin continue! Exchanging perspectives with President Putin and President Xi during the SCO Summit.”
“The two leaders continued their one-to-one dialogue on the way to the hotel where they were to be joined by members of their teams. However, on reaching the hotel they did not deboard the Russian president’s limousine and continued their conversation for 50 minutes,” Russian national radio station VestiFM reported. Later, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the two leaders had tet-a-tet in the car for about an hour.
Commentators in Moscow say perhaps this was the most important confidential conversation between Modi and Putin during which they probably discussed issues “not for the ears of others”.