Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a high-stakes bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin here on Monday, telling him the world must move “from endless war to the end of the war,” as the two leaders met on the sidelines of the 26th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit against a backdrop of mounting global energy security concerns.
The meeting, held at the Aksakal Meeting Room of the Bishkek Ala Archa State Residence, was the first face-to-face encounter between the two leaders since Putin’s visit to New Delhi in December 2025 for the 23rd India-Russia Annual Summit. It comes at a delicate moment, with the ongoing US-Israel conflict with Iran disrupting energy flows from the Middle East and pushing global oil markets into turmoil.
The Ministry of External Affairs said the two sides were expected to review the “entire gamut” of the India-Russia strategic partnership, with oil and fertiliser supplies, defence ties and the S-400 missile system all on the table. Russia remains one of India’s largest crude oil suppliers, and New Delhi has repeatedly signalled that uninterrupted energy and fertiliser imports from Moscow remain a top priority amid the West Asia crisis.
Earlier in the day, Modi also met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on the summit sidelines. Pezeshkian briefed Modi on the situation inside Iran and offered his perspective on the broader regional turmoil, while Modi reiterated India’s long-standing position that disputes must be resolved through “dialogue and diplomacy.”
The Prime Minister also underlined India’s concern for the safety of Indian nationals in the region, including in Iran, and stressed the need to keep energy and trade routes unhindered. The Pezeshkian meeting followed a separate bilateral with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, where the two discussed cooperation across defence, economic ties, pharmaceuticals, science and technology.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is also in Bishkek for the summit, though no formal bilateral between Modi and Xi has been scheduled. The two-day gathering, marking 25 years since the SCO’s founding, is set to focus on regional security, terrorism, trade, energy and connectivity, with the Ukraine war and the West Asia conflict expected to dominate leaders’ discussions. At the close of the summit, Kyrgyzstan will hand over the SCO’s rotating chairmanship to Pakistan, which will lead the bloc through 2027.
