Vladimir Putin arrived in Delhi on Friday for the Brics summit, his first in-person attendance at a Brics summit outside Russia since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The summit, hosted by India, brings together leaders from 11 Brics member countries, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, who are set to meet with India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. Putin was received at the Palam air force station by Indian junior minister Kirti Vardhan Singh, according to Russian state media. The summit takes place more than six months after the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran, a Brics member since 2024, which has led to a near-complete shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial oil trade route. This conflict has driven up crude oil prices to over $100 a barrel. Brics, originally formed by Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, has expanded to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the UAE, and Indonesia, reflecting its goal of representing a broader group of countries from the Global South. Tensions among Brics members are evident, particularly between Iran and the UAE, which suspended all trade and financial transactions with Iran in August after Iranian missiles struck UAE targets. Some newer Brics members, including Iran, the UAE, Egypt, and Ethiopia, are involved in disputes and hold differing positions. The Brics foreign ministers’ summit in May concluded without a joint statement due to disagreements between Iran and the UAE, instead issuing a chair statement. The Delhi summit is taking place under tight security, with heavy deployments of security forces across the capital and widespread traffic restrictions in central districts. Hundreds of additional CCTV cameras have been installed for surveillance, and the capital has been decorated with lights and roads cleaned and refurbished to welcome the leaders. Security has been heightened around key hotels, government buildings, and routes used by visiting dignitaries, with several luxury hotels in south and central Delhi reserved for foreign leaders and their delegations. Putin is scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with Modi on Friday, discussing defense, energy, trade, investment, and payment mechanisms. Xi Jinping’s visit to India would be his first since 2019 and also since the 2020 Galwan episode, when the two militaries faced off in the disputed Himalayan borders. Xi is expected to hold talks with Modi on the summit’s sidelines, reviewing efforts to stabilize relations and deepen economic engagement. Foreign policy experts expect the conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine to emerge as the most contentious issues, testing the bloc's unity. They say the key challenge will be finding language on the Middle East crisis that both Abu Dhabi and Tehran can accept, clearing the way for a joint declaration. However, such a joint statement is unlikely to influence the current geopolitical landscape but would demonstrate that a forum of emerging countries could be united against economically damaging policies like Western sanctions.