# Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to deepen their countries’ longstanding ties, with Putin saying the BRICS grouping should build a new platform for global growth free from Western rules. Modi and Putin held talks in the Indian capital on the eve of a BRICS summit, which Chinese President Xi Jinping and Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, among others, are due to attend. Putin’s special envoy Kirill Dmitriev told Reuters that BRICS was transitioning from a geopolitical grouping into a more practical economic partnership.
India, Russia seek stronger ties as Putin calls for BRICS to counter the West