The two leaders had met earlier at the 22nd India-Russia summit, held on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum in Russia in July. At that time, both sides reconfirmed their commitment to strengthen their “special and privileged” strategic partnership and its historical, time-tested and all-weather nature.

The upcoming summit is significant, as Putin’s priority would be to advance multipolarity amid a rapidly changing global order from unipolar dominance to multipolar balance.

The declaration of the BRICS Summit in Kazan resembled a testament to building a fairer and more just world order, which will be represented by the voice of the Global South/global majority that remains marginalized in Western-centric international institutions.

Like China, India is expected to be considered a civilizational state and an important partner in building a multipolar order in the emerging global balance of power led by Russia’s initiative.

Russian philosopher Alexander Dugin, whose ideas have much influence on the policies of Putin and Moscow, considers China, India and his country as civilizational states, rather than nation-states in the Westphalian model of international relations. For him, multipolarity should be based on dialogue among Russia, China and India as part of the Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa (BRICS) grouping that challenges Western dominance.

Dugin emphasizes the crucial role India can play in the new global order and balance of power, which includes liberation from a colonial mindset and keeping away from West-dominated narratives.

The discourse in academic and policy circles, especially in Russia and the Global South, questions Western dominance and the marginalization of non-Western voices and experiences. The debate calls for commitment to diversity, inclusiveness, pluralistic universalism and grounding in world history.

Besides the NATO expansion to the East, political instability, the rebirth of fascism in Europe and the United States and confronting the new Cold War are the reasons for Russia’s call to build a multipolar world order with the support of Turkey, Egypt, India, China, Brazil, South Africa and others, through Eurasian integration and strengthening multilateral platforms like BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and the Group of 20.

BRICS is the most crucial institution in the new Cold War and for establishing a multipolar world order. The changing global context and cooperation with Russia in the Global South, especially under the BRICS framework, shows that isolating Russia is difficult.

Russia is now committed to building a fairer and just multipolar world order as envisioned in the Kazan Declaration, which calls for strengthening multilateralism, enhancing economic cooperation, strengthening people-to-people exchanges, respecting the United Nations Charter and international law, fighting terrorism and climate change, among others.

A consensus was sought about viewing “unlawful unilateral coercive measures”, such as sanctions, as detrimental to the global economy and Sustainable Development Goals. Therefore, the expanded BRICS agreed to de-dollarize and trade in national currencies.

Putin sees the current significance of Russia, India and China in the East to confront Containment II, the US' post-Cold War containment policy, in the 21st century, in the same way Lenin observed in 1923 the significance of Russia’s alliance with India and China for ensuring the success of socialism in its struggle against imperialist countries.

In the context of the emergence of a multipolar world, former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger said: “India will be a fulcrum of 21st-century order: an indispensable element...”

Putin views that Russia, China and India’s alliance might counter NATO expansion and neoliberal capitalism, strengthen multipolarity and ensure the emergence of a multipolar world order that is more democratic, equitable, prosperous and peaceful.

In a recent speech at Valdai International Discussion Club’s plenary meeting in Sochi, Putin said, “India should be included in the list of great powers,” considering its fast technological and economic growth.

There is speculation that Putin may have played a role in bringing together Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping for a successful meeting at Kazan, where they agreed to keep the overall relationship cooperative, contribute to regional and global peace and act with a long-term view to advancing multipolarity.

Importantly, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi asserted that Beijing and New Delhi were nonaligned, upheld multilateralism and would contribute to the process of building global multipolarity.

Indian foreign minister S. Jaishankar, who met Wang on the sidelines of the recent G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, said the two sides agreed to work together toward rebuilding trust and mutual understanding. Progress would be expected in resuming direct flights, exchanging journalists and facilitating visa issuance.

At the 22nd India-Russia summit, Putin and Modi reaffirmed their commitment to the countries’ “special and privileged strategic partnership”.

India also adopted a neutral position in the Ukraine-Russia war, urging the latter to resolve the conflict through dialogue and diplomacy in accordance with international law. After the outbreak of war in Ukraine, India-Russia trade expanded considerably.

India is one of the main importers of Russian oil despite pressure from US-Western partners. The target is to increase the trade volume from US$65 billion in 2023 to $100 billion by 2030.

Next year’s 23rd India-Russia summit will reflect upon and review the partnership, discuss future directions and trajectories and a road map for cooperation toward building global multipolarity. Defense cooperation is the major focus of Russia’s strategic partnership, though trade and economic cooperation is expanding.

The writer is an associate professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University’s Centre for Russian and Central Asian Studies. This article is published under a Creative Commons license.