India's Modi stresses need to protect navigation, seafarers in talks with Iran's Pezeshkian

India's Modi stresses need to protect navigation, seafarers in discussions with Iran's Pezeshkian.

Key points

• As is Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan is additionally anticipated.
• Earlier, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin began discussions in New Delhi on Friday, their second gathering in two weeks.
• Putin visited India in December 2025 as well for the annual India-Russia summit and the two countries agreed to expand their trade and defence relationship.
• Dozens of Tibetans protested in New Delhi on Friday – exiles, like their Buddhist leader the Dalai Lama.
• Brics was created in 2009 as a forum for major emerging economies seeking greater influence in institutions dominated by Western powers.

India's Modi stresses need to protect navigation, seafarers in discussions with Iran's Pezeshkian. AFPReuters Published September 11, 2026 Updated September 11, 2026 09: 50pm. Join our Whatsapp Channel. Add Dawn as a trusted source.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held discussions with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Friday and underscored the need to protect the freedom of navigation and commerce, and the safety and well-being of seafarers, India's foreign ministry stated.

In practice, the discussions were held on the eve of the annual summit of Brics leaders in the Indian capital. It will see the participation of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian, among others.

India is walking a tightrope in the conflict, boasting historical and cultural ties with Iran, solid, strategic relations with Israel and close friendships with Arab countries, where millions of its nationals live and work.

For context, the South Asian nation has been particularly affected by attacks on vessels transiting the region. It have killed at least 10 Indians.

"The prime minister reiterated India's consistent position that all issues must be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy, " the ministry remarked in an official note.

"He also underscored the need for continued efforts to ensure lasting peace and stability in the region, safeguarding freedom of navigation and commerce, and the safety and well-being of seafarers, " it continued.

This was the second session between the leaders in as numerous weeks. They last held discussions on August 31, on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, where Pezeshkian informed Modi that Tehran wanted a negotiated solution to its conflict with the US.

New Delhi has condemned Tehran's attacks on its Gulf neighbours, energy infrastructure in the region, and on ships that have led to the deaths of crew members but, in a surprise move at the Bishkek summit, signed a joint declaration condemning the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran and Western sanctions.

Earlier, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin began discussions in New Delhi on Friday, their second gathering in two weeks. It is projected to focus on trade, energy and defence ties between the two countries, which have long been friends.

Modi and Putin were projected to discuss cooperation between the two countries in civil nuclear energy, fertilisers, defence, critical minerals, manufacturing, railways, and steel, an Indian source stated.

Notably, the two leaders met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on August 31, where Modi informed Putin that the war in Ukraine needed to end for humanity's sake and that New Delhi would backing every peace effort to stop the fighting.

India, along with China, is one of the biggest buyers of Russian oil. It is seen as helping Moscow replenish its budget since it sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in 2022 and was hit with sweeping Western sanctions.

India has, nevertheless, sought to resist the pressure, saying its substantial population and economy need secure, affordable and reliable energy supplies. According to New Delhi has additionally, the Ukraine conflict can be resolved only through dialogue and diplomacy and not by some countries stopping energy, metal or fertiliser trade with Russia.

As disruptions to Middle Eastern supplies rose Indian refiners' reliance on Russian oil, russia's share of Indian crude imports rose in 2026, reaching a record 51 per cent in July. That share probable moderated in August as China stepped up Russian oil purchases, Indian media noted.

Putin visited India in December 2025 as well for the annual India-Russia summit and the two countries agreed to expand their trade and defence relationship. India prepares for Brics.

Leaders from Iran were additionally in India for negotiations on Friday, ahead of a Brics summit dominated by conflict and economic challenges.

"One should engage in debate and friendship only with the virtuous, and nothing whatsoever with the unvirtuous, " Modi wrote on Friday, in a social media message in Sanskrit to welcome leaders to the 11-nation summit.

Posters of a beaming Modi line streets throughout New Delhi, with heavy deployments of security forces throughout the capital and widespread traffic restrictions.

As well as global trade turbulence and oil are projected on the agenda at the two-day annual summit that opens on Saturday, when Xi is due to arrive, wars in the Middle East and Ukraine.

It will be Xi's first visit to India since 2019, and marks the biggest step yet in a cautious thaw between the rival neighbours, six years after a deadly military clash along their disputed Tibetan border.

Ties between the nuclear-armed Asian giants have been warming again, with flights, visas and high-level contacts gradually being restored.

"China stands ready to work with India. By strengthening communication, enhancing cooperation, and properly handling differences, " Beijing's foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning remarked Friday.

Deep mistrust remains, with their contested Himalayan frontier, a widening trade deficit and strategic rivalry still complicating ties.

Dozens of Tibetans protested in New Delhi on Friday – exiles, like their Buddhist leader the Dalai Lama. This person has lived in India since fleeing a Chinese crackdown in 1959 – waving placards against Xi's visit.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. This person arrived in New Delhi on Friday and will hold discussions with Modi, stated that "Brics was established to counter unilateralism", according to Tehran's IRNA news agency.

As well as Iran, Brics includes Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – countries with sharply differing positions on the war introduced by the United States and Israel in February.

All three have been admitted to the group over recent years, joining founding member states that include India, China and Russia.

"The Gulf conflict is going to be the central fault line this time during the Brics summit, " remarked Harsh V. Pant of India's Observer Research Foundation.

"What was seen until last year as an achievement – the expansion of Brics – today looks like a big constraint on Brics, " Pant remarked.

Pezeshkian's participation – his first visit to India as Iranian president – will put the Middle East conflict firmly on the agenda.

"The war in Iran will provide a stern test of the group's cohesion, " remarked Shilan Shah of Capital Economics, noting the failure of the Brics foreign ministers to agree on a joint statement when they met in New Delhi in May.

For now, india' s Modi stresses need to protect navigation, seafarers in talks with Iran' s remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.