New Delhi: Highlighting the special relationship between their two nations, Prime Minister Narendra Modi broke protocol on Thursday (December 4) evening to welcome Russian President Vladimir Putin at the airport.The Russian leader arrived in Delhi for a two-day visit that begins with a private dinner with Modi. On Friday, the two sides will hold formal talks, witness the exchange of agreements and attend a business meeting. Before he leaves Delhi at night, the Indian president will host a formal banquet in Putin’s honour.The two leaders last met at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Tianjin, where visuals of Modi walking hand-in-hand with Putin into the hall and subsequently traveling to their hotel for a meeting in the Russian leader’s Aurus Limo made a splash in news reports across the world.India evoked a similar spectacle on Thursday, with Modi embracing Putin as he walked down the stairs of his special aircraft. The two leaders then departed in the same car to travel from the airport to the official residence for an informal dinner.Welcomed my friend, President Putin to 7, Lok Kalyan Marg.@KremlinRussia_E pic.twitter.com/2L7AZ1WIph— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 4, 2025According to Indian protocol, the task of receiving visiting heads of state usually falls to a minister of state. However, Modi and earlier Indian prime ministers have utilised airport greetings as a diplomatic tool to show special regard for close partners.Putin is the latest addition to the short list of leaders Modi has greeted on the tarmac. This group includes the Emir of Qatar, who received a similar welcome in February, as well as other global leaders like former US President Barack Obama, US President Donald Trump, former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, French President Emmanuel Macron and UAE President Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.However, the Russian leader received the additional gesture of sharing the ride from the airport, a courtesy that is even rarer.The Russian leader arrived for the annual summit with India, a mechanism that involves leaders traveling to each other’s country on an alternating basis.This marks the 23rd iteration of the annual summit mechanism, which was established in 2000. The Indian prime minister had travelled to Moscow for the summit last year.In the run-up to leaders’ talks, defence minister Rajnath Singh and his Russian counterpart Andrei Belousov co-chaired the 22nd India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Military & Military Technical Cooperation earlier on Thursday. Both sides reiterated that bilateral ties are based on a “deep sense of trust, common principles and mutual respect”.Defence ties remain central to the relationship, even as India has broadened its procurement base to include Israel, the US and France. Russia continues to be the single largest source of defence equipment for the Indian armed forces. At Thursday’s meeting, talks are expected to cover the supply of additional S-400 long-range anti-aircraft missiles and the Sukhoi Su-57 fifth generation stealth fighter jet.Putin’s visit takes place following renewed diplomatic efforts to find a peaceful solution to the ongoing Ukraine war, with US special envoy Steve Witkoff traveling to Moscow earlier this week. However, there does not seem to have been a breakthrough so far.India has largely avoided any direct criticism of Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and has also abstained from voting on several UN resolutions, including the latest one in the United Nations General Assembly in New York. New Delhi has consistently advocated for direct talks between the two sides to find a peaceful solution.India’s relations with Russia have faced greater scrutiny this year after Trump imposed an additional 25% tariff on Indian imports to the US as punishment for buying Russian crude. This brought the overall tariff on Indian imported goods to a staggering 50%.European countries have also been concerned that the Russian president should not receive undue diplomatic validation, fearing that his relative isolation might be broken. However, Europe has also been careful not to impose any tariffs or sanctions against India for buying Russian oil.At the same time, sanctions on Russian oil majors Rosneft and Lukoil will begin to impact purchases by Indian refiners – both private and public sector ones – starting this month. Moscow has claimed that the dip will only be temporary.Since the start of the Ukraine war, Russia has been the single largest source of oil for India, accounting for 34% of its imported crude.Driven largely by these purchases, the bilateral trade volume had increased to $68 billion in 2024-25, a five-fold increase within four years. This has however led to an even sharper trade imbalance for India, which is likely to be part of the discussions on Friday.This article was updated with more information at 11:31 pm.