Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in the Indian capital on Friday ahead of an 11-member BRICS summit set to be dominated by wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, as well as economic challenges.

Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian are due to hold talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while Chinese President Xi Jinping is also expected to meet Modi on the sidelines of the two-day meeting.

Putin arrived at Palam Air Force Station in New Delhi, where he was greeted by India’s Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh, according to footage broadcast by Russia’s Ria Novosti news agency.

Posters of a beaming Modi lined streets across New Delhi to welcome leaders, with heavy deployments of security forces across the capital and widespread traffic restrictions in central districts. Delhi police have urged people to be patient and cooperative.

BRICS, which stands for the original members of the grouping – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – was created in 2009 as a forum for major emerging economies seeking greater influence in institutions dominated by Western powers.

It has since expanded, and now includes Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – three countries with sharply differing positions on the US-Israel war on Iran launched in February.

“The Gulf conflict is going to be the central fault line this time during the BRICS summit,” Harsh V Pant of India’s Observer Research Foundation told the AFP news agency.

“What was seen until last year as an achievement – the expansion of BRICS – today looks like a big constraint on BRICS,” Pant said.

It will be Pezeshkian’s first visit to India as Iranian president, and will put the Middle East conflict firmly on the agenda. The Iranian president’s visit marks the first in eight years for the role.

“The war in Iran will provide a stern test of the (expanded) group’s cohesion,” Shilan Shah of Capital Economics told AFP, noting the failure of the BRICS foreign ministers to agree on a joint statement when they met in New Delhi in May.

India maintains cordial relations with Iran and Israel, but is also careful to strike a delicate balance in its ties with Washington.

India has navigated the energy crisis caused by the war on Iran in part by turning to Russia, one of its most important strategic partners and its most controversial fuel supplier in recent years, as Moscow’s war against Ukraine drags on.

Putin last visited India in December 2025, but he also met Modi in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, this month.

Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar visited Kyiv this month, where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was “grateful to India for its commitment to ending this unjust war”.

For China’s Xi, it will be his 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 Himalayan border.

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

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

[Aljazeera]

India continued their unbeaten run and marched into their sixth final in six editions of the Women’s T20 Asia Cup after beating Bangladesh by 40 runs in an error laden semi final in Dubai.

After India were put in on a slow pitch, Shafali Verma scored 64 off 40 balls, making full use of the reprieves she got on 6, 11, 50 and 56. The knock helped India post a formidable 149 for 6 even though most other batters struggled for timing.

Juairiya Ferdous and Dilara Akter came out with positive intent but once the spin was introduced, they too felt powerless. India helped them by dropping four catches of varying difficulty, but Bangladesh did not have someone like Shafali to take advantage of those. In the end, they could reach only 109 for 7.

Shafali lives a charmed life

Marufa Akter was impressive once again with the new ball. Apart from her stock in-swinger to the right-hand batter, she also showed off her leg-cutter, which beat Shafali’s outside edge a couple of times.

Opening the bowling from the other end, off-spinner Sultana Khatun produced two chances in her very first over. Fahima Khatun dropped Shafali at long-on but Smriti Mandhana was not that fortunate. Shorna Akter caught her miscued aerial attempt at mid-on.

Shafali got another reprieve in the third over when Nahida Akter failed to latch on to a low chance at mid-on off Marufa. The batter rubbed salt into Bangladesh’s wounds by launching Sultana over long-off for back-to-back sixes in the following over. Despite Pratika Rawal struggling at the other end, Shafali’s fireworks ensured India finished the powerplay on 45 for 1.

Rawal and Harmanpreet’s toil

Rawal had opened her account with a classical off-drive for four off the first ball. She also launched Rabeya Khan for a six in the last over of the powerplay. But she struggled to rotate strike and could manage only 20 off 24 balls in the end.

Harmanpreet Kaur, too, found it difficult to get going. At one point, she was on 3 off 15 balls. As a result, India could score only 33 runs in seven overs after the powerplay.

Shafali continues to ride her luck

Shafali reached her fifty off 35 balls and then enjoyed some more luck. On the very next ball, she had a miscommunication with Harmanpreet. It should have been an easy run-out at the bowler’s end but Fahima fumbled the throw.

Shafali then pulled Sultana over deep midwicket for a six. She tried to repeat the dose on the next ball but Shorna dropped the catch. The ball burst through her hands, hit her on the face and trickled to the deep-midwicket boundary. However, she holed out to long-on in the same over, with substitute Farjana Easmin taking the catch.

Richa Ghosh (21 off 16) and Deepti Sharma (13 off six) injected some momentum towards the end while Harmanpreet finished on 24 not out off 28.

Ferdous and Dilara gave Bangladesh a steady start, with both batters hitting two boundaries each in the first three overs. But there were plenty of dot balls too, which meant the scoreboard read only 18 for no loss after three overs.

After that, Harmanpreet introduced spin from both ends and the scoring rate dropped further. Bowling the last over of the powerplay, N Sjhree Charani delivered a wicket maiden, making Ferdous her 50th T20I wicket.

Deepti does Deepti things

Deepti struck in her very first over. With the asking rate climbing fast, Ferdous tried to go aerial but holed out to deep midwicket. Nigar Sultana and Sobhana Mostary added 31 for the third wicket but consumed 34 balls for it.

Deepti ended the stand by castling Mostary. That triggered a mini-collapse with Bangladesh losing three wickets in 15 balls for 17 runs. Prema Rawat had Nigar caught at short third before Deepti bowled Sharmin Akhter to make it 83 for 5 in the 16th over.

India’s fielding woes

The result was all but sealed by then. But India, too, were sub-par in the field, right from the start. In the very first over of the chase, Rawal had dropped an overhead catch at cover-point to reprieve Dilara. Later on, she dropped Mostary at backward point. Mandhana misjudged a boundary catch as well, before Ghosh and Nandani Sharma collided while going for one near square leg. On another day, these mistakes could have proved costly.

Scores:
India Women 149 for 6 in 20 overs (Shafali Verma 64, Pratika Rawal 20, Harmanpreet Kaur 24*, Richa Ghosh 21, Deepti Sharma 13; Marufa Akter 1-40, Sultana Khatun 2-30, Nahida Akter 1-25, Rabeya Khan 1-22) beat Bangladesh 109 for 7 in 20 overs (Dilara Akter 21, Juairiya Ferdous 14, Sobhana Mostary 18, Nigar Sultana 19, Shorna Akter 22*,  Fahima Khatun 14; Nandani Sharma 2-10, Shree Charani 1-14, Prema Rawat 1-21, Deepti  Sharma3-26) by 40 runs

[Cricinfo]

Will the Women’s T20 Asia Cup  semi-final against Sri Lanka  be a full-circle moment for Pakistan ?

Sri Lanka beat Pakistan in the semi final 9f the 2024 edition  to qualify for their first Asia Cup final since 2008. Now Pakistan enter this contest having not been at an Asia Cup final since 2016. Moreover, the two teams played a bilateral series only last month. So there is enough familiarity.

Sri Lanka are unbeaten in this tournament, notching up easy wins over UAE and Indonesia before being pushed hard by Bangladesh.Chamari Athapaththu has topped the  wickets tally, this time, her seven-for against Indonesia providing a reminder of what she can do in spin-friendly conditions at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Her pairing with Imesha Dulani at the top of the batting order has given Sri Lanka a close-to-ideal combination. Nilakshika Silva’s half-century from a tricky spot against Indonesia, and Harshitha Samarawickrama’s composure in a tight chase against Bangladesh have instilled confidence in their batting order.

Pakistan, on the other hand, are slightly short on batting confidence. They posted 119/9 against Thailand and were bowled out for 55 against India. It was only thanks to their bowlers that they could brush Tailand aside. Pakistan also lost the three-match bilateral series against Sri Lanka last month, though they did not have Fatima Sana’s services then.

Shawaal Zulfiqar’s presence at the top allows them to start at a higher gear, and Muneeba Ali’s experience only adds to the heft. Both are yet to fire together in this tournament, and Pakistan would hope it comes in the semi-final in order to end their finals drought.