Modi–Xi–Putin: Is a New Geopolitical Triangle Emerging Against the West?

The striking presence of Narendra Modi, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin together at the BRICS summit in New Delhi has once again raised questions about a changing global power structure. The three countries are not formal allies, and their interests often clash, but all three are pushing for a more multipolar international system and greater influence for the Global South. The New Delhi summit ended with a joint declaration supporting reforms in global institutions and opposing unilateral sanctions and protectionist trade measures.

For India, however, this is a complicated balancing act. New Delhi has strong strategic ties with Russia, while Russia itself has become increasingly dependent on China amid its confrontation with the West. At the same time, India and China remain strategic competitors, with unresolved border tensions and a major trade imbalance. The recent Modi-Xi thaw may reduce tensions, but it does not erase the underlying rivalry. Analysts therefore describe India's position as a tightrope walk rather than a shift into a China-Russia camp.

Russia wants BRICS to become a stronger economic and political platform capable of reducing dependence on Western systems. China is going further, proposing a “Greater BRICS” agenda covering AI, trade, finance and supply chains, including a China-led BRICS AI Open Source Zone. India, meanwhile, has consistently tried to prevent BRICS from becoming explicitly anti-Western while maintaining strategic autonomy and simultaneously working with the US, Japan and Australia through the Quad.

That creates the real geopolitical question: is this emerging triangle actually an anti-Western alliance, or simply three major powers using the same platform for different strategic goals? India benefits from maintaining access to Russia's energy and defence partnership, improving ties with China and retaining relationships with Western powers. But if Russia moves further into China's orbit and BRICS becomes increasingly shaped by Beijing, India's balancing strategy could become much harder. Is Modi building a multipolar world—or slowly finding himself between a China-Russia axis and the Western bloc?