Story summary
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is embarking on a four-day trip starting August 29, 2026, to strengthen ties with Uzbekistan and attend the annual Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Kyrgyzstan. During his visit to Uzbekistan's capital, Tashkent, from August 29 to 30, Mr. Modi will explore ways to bolster bilateral ties in various sectors. From there, he will travel to Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, for a two-day visit to attend the SCO summit, where leaders like Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif are expected to attend.
The SCO summit marks its 25th anniversary and comes at a time when regional security is evolving due to global tensions. At the summit, PM Modi will address India's priorities of security, connectivity, and opportunity. Meanwhile, Indian leaders have been engaging with the SCO while maintaining relationships with competing powers, which has put pressure on their position.
In addition to the SCO summit, energy ties between India and Russia are deepening, despite Western sanctions over Russia's war in Ukraine and US pressure on India to stop buying Russian oil. Former Indian ambassador to the US Meera Shankar said that India's relationship with Moscow is not directed against Washington but intended to help India meet its national goals.
The visit also coincides with China's efforts to expand its regional influence, which is being discussed at a separate summit of Asian leaders in Kyrgyzstan, where energy and security are key topics.
Written for “India and Central Asia Diplomacy” on 2026-08-31,
grounded in this article and the 2 other(s) covering the same event.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets Russian President Vladimir Putin in Kyrgyzstan's capital Bishkek on Monday on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit — a bloc often seen as a counterweight to US influence.
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Modi → meet → influence
The meeting comes against the backdrop of the fallout from the US-Israel war on Iran, which has disrupted global energy markets, and Russia's war in Ukraine, which is in its fifth year.
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which → come → year
India has remained engaged with the SCO while resisting efforts to turn it into an anti-Western bloc.
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India → remain → bloc
Its position reflects a broader effort to maintain relationships with competing powers.
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position → reflect → powers
Russia remains under Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine.
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Russia → remain → Ukraine
Meanwhile, India has faced US pressure over its purchases of Russian oil, alongside wider trade tensions.
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India → face → tensions
Former Indian ambassador to the US Meera Shankar told DW that India's relationship with Moscow should not be seen as directed against Washington.
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relationship → tell → Washington
"India has a long-standing strategic relationship with Russia.
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India → have → Russia
This is not directed against any country but intended to help India meet its national goals," said Shankar.
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Shankar → direct → goals
Energy ties deepen
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Energy has become the most visible change in the India-Russia relationship since the Ukraine war.
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Before 2022, when Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia supplied only a small share of India's crude imports.
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Russia → launch → imports
Discounted Russian oil rapidly changed that, making Moscow one of India's biggest suppliers.
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Moscow → change → suppliers
It has also become the most contentious part of India's relationship with Washington.
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The US has pressed New Delhi to reduce its purchases from Russia, while India has maintained that securing affordable and reliable energy is a national interest.
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securing → press → energy
The disruption to traditional energy supplies has made that calculation more complicated.
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calculation → make → supplies
The US-Israel war on Iran and disruption of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz have affected India's purchases from the Gulf and pushed up prices.
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war → affect → prices
Shankar says India is responding by diversifying its sources of supply, including Russia and the US.
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"In the long run, a transition to a non-fossil fuel economy would strengthen India's energy independence.
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transition → strengthen → independence
But this will not happen overnight," she added.
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she → happen → ?
Until then, Shankar says, India will take steps it considers necessary to stabilize supplies and protect its people.
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it → say → people
The future of India-Russia defense cooperation
Defense remains the other major pillar, but here the direction of travel is clearer: India's dependence on Russian equipment has been declining.
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dependence → remain → equipment
The Ukraine war has raised questions over Russia's production capacity, delivery schedules and ability to supply spare parts after decades as a major supplier of India's military hardware.
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war → raise → hardware
"India remains one of Russia's oldest and largest arms buyers, and perhaps the last major one," Aravind Yelery, associate professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University, told DW.
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Yelery → remain → DW
"New Delhi is increasingly reluctant to commit to Russia's fifth-generation fighter program and has little appetite for new Russian hardware unless it can be incorporated into India's indigenous production plans," added Yelery.
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Yelery → commit → plans
While New Delhi has diversified its purchases, that does not mean the defense relationship is disappearing.
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relationship → diversify → purchases
However, the terms are changing, with India looking for a relationship that contributes to its own defense production, rather than simply buying finished systems.
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that → change → systems
The China question
Russia's growing dependence on China has become an unavoidable part of the India-Russia equation.
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dependence → grow → equation
Since the Ukraine war, China has become indispensable to Russia as a market, supplier and economic partner.
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China → become → market
That has reduced Moscow's ability to serve as a counterweight to Beijing.
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Yelery sees an important distinction in the two relationships.
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Yelery → see → relationships
"Strategically, Russia's relationship with China remains structurally transactional, a dependence it can ill afford to compromise, whereas its relationship with India rests on partnership," he said.
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he → remain → partnership
India still has reasons to keep Moscow close: energy, defense, access to the Russian market and a longstanding political relationship across Eurasia.
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India → have → Eurasia
But the strategic calculation has changed.
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calculation → change → ?
India's 'America plus' strategy
Strategic affairs expert C Raja Mohan said that Russia's growing dependence on China has changed its strategic value for India.
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dependence → say → India
"Russia is no longer in a position to help India balance China," Mohan, a professor of American Studies at Jindal Global University, told DW.
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This changes what New Delhi expects from the relationship with Russia.
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The emphasis is increasingly on specific interests — energy security, defense supplies, trade, and access to technology — while India's larger strategic weight increasingly rests on relationships with the US and its allies.
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weight → rest → US
India has expanded defense and technology cooperation with Washington, while deepening ties with partners such as France and Israel.
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India → expand → France
Mohan describes this approach as an "America plus" strategy whereby India maintains the US partnership while widening its engagement with other major powers.
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India → describe → powers
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