NEW DELHI (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin landed in India Thursday on a state visit aimed at bolstering bilateral and economic ties between the two countries.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi received the Russian leader at an airport in New Delhi, giving a bearhug and a tight handshake with the gusto of an old friend.

Modi will host Putin for a private dinner tonight at his decked-up official residence.

On Friday, the two leaders will hold talks as part of the 23rd India-Russia Summit and discuss deepening economic cooperation, mainly in defense, energy and the mobility of skilled labor.

Putin’s visit comes at a sensitive time in global politics when there is a renewed push by the U.S. on a peace deal to bring the Russia-Ukraine war to an end. The visit will test New Delhi’s efforts to balance relations with Moscow and Washington as the nearly four-year war in Ukraine grinds on.

Putin last visited India in 2021. Modi was in Moscow last year, and the two leaders briefly met in September in China during a Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit.

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