PM Modi's Careful Balancing Act At Key Summit Today

PM Modi's face-to-face meeting with Putin will take place today in Uzbekistan, where a host of leaders are gathering for a summit of a group that intends to counter the US-led global system.

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets Russia's Vladimir Putin and attends a summit with China's Xi Jinping on Friday, he'll need to avoid looking too chummy with the US's two top adversaries.

PM Modi's face-to-face meeting with Putin will take place Friday in Uzbekistan, where a host of leaders are gathering for a summit of the Chinese-founded Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a group intended to counter the US-led global system. At that event, he'll also rub shoulders with Xi, whom PM Modi hasn't met in person since late 2019.

With Russia's war in Ukraine in its seventh month, India has emerged as one of the biggest swing nations. The US and its allies have so far largely avoided pressuring New Delhi over its close ties with Russia, a key supplier of weapons and energy. That's partly to keep PM Modi on its side against China in part through the Quad, a grouping that also includes Japan and Australia.

PM Modi so far has managed to thread the needle between the two sides while advancing India's own interests. He's sought cheaper oil and much-needed weapons, to counter Beijing's aggression along the Himalayan border and more investments from the US and its allies seeking to diversify supply chains away from China.