Is the Modi–Putin Summit India’s strongest rebuff yet to US Dollar hegemony? Brahma Chellaney thinks so

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s December 4–5 visit to New Delhi to attend the 23rd India-Russia Annual Summit is emerging as a pivotal geopolitical moment, with analysts suggesting that a push toward de-dollarisation could be one of the central themes of his talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Geostrategist Dr Brahma Chellaney describes the visit as “not just another diplomatic stopover” but “a powerful geopolitical statement” at a time when the world is dividing into rival blocs. According to him, the summit is expected to produce “consequential agreements, including new payment channels designed to bypass the SWIFT system and dilute the dominance of the U.S. dollar.”

Such a move would represent a significant step in India and Russia’s parallel efforts to build financial mechanisms insulated from US-led sanctions and the dollar-centric architecture of global trade.

Chellaney also highlights India’s strategic discomfort with Western financial coercion, noting that “the weaponization of SWIFT and other tools” has alarmed New Delhi. The West’s aggressive sanctions regime, he argues, has pushed Russia deeper into China’s strategic camp — a development India views uneasily.

Putin’s visit, however, signals that “Russia still has options beyond China and will not allow itself to be reduced to a ‘junior partner’ to Beijing.”

At the same time, India is using this moment to assert its autonomy. Chellaney points to deteriorating ties with Washington under Trump, stating that “the U.S. under Trump is treating [India] shabbily” with tariff hikes that are now “higher than on China.” Hosting Putin, he argues, is New Delhi’s way of rejecting the Western-imposed binary of “with us or against us” while signalling that it will not ostracise Russia.