I informed him that Putin’s limo journey with PM Modi in China puts the world in suspense

During the recently finished 25th Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Tianjin, China, Russian President Vladimir putin gave the first look of his much-discussed limousine trip with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“Well, it’s not a secret. In reference to his recent discussions with Prime Minister Modi while the two leaders were traveling to the Ritz-Carlton Hotel for a bilateral meeting, Putin informed reporters, “I told him about the negotiations in Alaska.”

From the SCO venue to the location of their bilateral meeting, Putin and PM Modi traveled together in an Aurus car built in Russia. As the two leaders prolonged their conversations inside the car before getting out, the scheduled 15-minute travel turned into almost an hour.

Later, PM Modi wrote about the odd carpool on X. “President Putin and I traveled together to the location of our bilateral meeting following the events at the SCO summit venue. “Talking with him is always enlightening,” the prime minister wrote on Twitter.

The conversation took place as trade relations between the US and India were rapidly declining. Due to India’s ongoing purchases of Russian crude oil, Washington has imposed high tariffs on New Delhi, 25% on exports and an additional 25% surcharge.

Putin’s disclosure connected his own meeting with US President Donald Trump in Alaska last month to the PM Modi talk. This time, Trump went a step further — after rolling out the red carpet for talks on the Ukraine war, he invited Putin to ride with him in his armoured limousine, famously called “the Beast”.

“We conversed in English, of course. English that is broken. Since the ride took just 30 seconds, I didn’t speak to President Trump very much. I was happy to see him alive and well, I told him. It was more of a small talk,” Putin revealed.

Trump and Putin’s summit in Alaska was hailed as a turning point in the war in Ukraine. Putin then claimed to have made some “understandings” with Trump on the way forward, despite the fact that no ceasefire was agreed upon.

Putin has left the world wondering what was discussed in that Tianjin limousine and how much it could influence the next stage of diplomacy in light of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and India’s tense economic relations with the United States by tying PM Modi into that series of talks.