NEW DELHI: From Russian President Vladmir Putin to Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian and Chinese President Xi Jinping, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a packed diplomatic calendar on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit, with a series of back-to-back bilateral meetings spread across three days.
The schedule opens Friday afternoon with Russian President Vladimir Putin at 3:30 PM, followed by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian at 6:15 PM and UN Secretary-General António Guterres at 6:45 PM.
Saturday is even more tightly packed, beginning with meetings with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali at 10 AM and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim at 10:30 AM, followed by the Abu Dabhi crown prince at 11 AM and Vietnam Prime Minister Le Minh Hung at 11:30 AM.
At the same time, President Droupadi Murmu is scheduled to meet Pezeshkian at 11:30 AM.
The day’s most closely watched engagement comes at 5:45 PM, when Modi meets Chinese President Xi Jinping, in Xi’s first bilateral visit to India in seven years and against the backdrop of a cautious thaw in ties. Sunday will see another string of engagements, with Modi scheduled to meet leaders from Kazakhstan, the Philippines, Egypt, South Africa, Burundi, Nigeria and Uganda between 2:30 PM and 5:40 PM.
The sheer pace of the schedule underscores the diplomatic weight of the BRICS sidelines for New Delhi. Across three days, Modi is set to engage with leaders from major powers, emerging economies and key regional partners, with conversations spanning strategic ties, trade, investment, regional conflicts and global governance.
In all, it is a diplomatic sprint of at least 15 bilateral engagements as of now over three days, with Putin, Pezeshkian and Xi among the major meetings.