PM Modi, Putin and Xi hold hands at BRICS summit in a powerful show of unity

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping were seen holding hands at the BRICS summit on Saturday, in a display of bonhomie between the leaders. The latest photograph comes even as India hosts the BRICS summit amid heightened geopolitical tensions. (X/ @narendramodi)

The striking moment of camaraderie was not without precedent, with the three leaders having shared a similar warm moment at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek earlier this month. The latest photograph comes even as India hosts the BRICS summit amid heightened geopolitical tensions, providing an added significance to their public show of unity.

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Jinping is in India after seven years, his last visit being in 2019 for an informal summit with PM Modi, months before the 2020 India-China standoff when relations plummeted to their lowest point since the 1962 border war. However, there has been a thaw in ties since then, with an an understanding being reached in October 2024 on disengagement of troops at all “friction points” in Ladakh sector of the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Putin visited India in December, 2025 for the 23rd India–Russia Annual Summit.