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Politics333 outlets ran this2 min read

Modi and Putin share car ride in Delhi

The leaders met ahead of the BRICS summit and shared a ride for the fourth time.

AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

Published Updated
From 'Su-57, Oil & $100 BN Trade', What Modi & Putin Discussed Ahead of BRICS 2026?

What this story says

  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin shared a car ride in Delhi.
  • This was their fourth time travelling together in a vehicle.
  • The leaders met at Bharat Mandapam ahead of the BRICS summit.
  • PM Modi presented Putin with a Russian translation of the Thirukkural.

Who covered it

Left 28%(33)Centre 29%(34)Right 43%(50)

Percentages are shares of the 117 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 216 of the 333 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .

Trust

42/100

Craft

57/100

Hype

41/100

333 sources · methodology

Missing from the left

Only 33 of the 117 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated left.

A reader who follows the left would not have seen this. We report the absence rather than explain it: outlets choose what to cover for many reasons, and we have no evidence about which one applies here.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin shared a car ride in Delhi on Friday. The two leaders met at Bharat Mandapam ahead of the BRICS summit. This was their fourth occasion travelling together in a vehicle. They previously shared rides in Bishkek and Tianjin. During their meeting, PM Modi presented Putin with a Russian translation of the Thirukkural, an ancient Tamil classic.

Previous shared car journeys

The Times of India reported that the Delhi car ride was their fourth time travelling together. They most recently shared a ride in Bishkek after the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit. Before that, they travelled together in Tianjin last year. The Hindu Business Line noted that the car was Putin's armoured Aurus Senat, customised to withstand attacks.

What the coverage left out

None of the left-rated reports covered this story. The centre-rated report did not mention the specific details about the car being an armoured Aurus Senat, which was noted by several right-rated outlets.

Tags:#NarendraModi#VladimirPutin#BRICS#IndiaRussiaRelations#CarDiplomacy

Coverage settled. We checked this 10 times and stopped on 16 Sept 2026, 23:31. The figures above are what it finished at.

How each side covered it

Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.

Left

33 rated outlets

  • All twelve left‑rated outlets published a story about Russian President Vladimir Putin meeting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi ahead of the 2026 BRICS summit. Their digests note the attendance of Iran’s foreign minister Massoud Pezeshkian and stress that the summit agenda is shaped by the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.
  • The digests repeatedly describe the meeting as a step to strengthen Indo‑Russian ties and, in several cases, as Putin’s first in‑person appearance at a BRICS summit outside Russia since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Most outlets refer to him as the Russian president, while one digest labels him a Russian dictator. They also note that Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to attend.
  • None of the left‑rated digests include direct quotations from either leader, and none provide specifics about the bilateral agenda beyond a generic reference to strengthening ties. The reports also omit any discussion of financial terms, concrete agreements, or dissenting commentary, focusing solely on the diplomatic presence and the broader war‑focused summit context.

Centre

34 rated outlets

  • The Hindustan Times report focused on the shared car ride between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The report stated this was their fourth time sharing a ride and mentioned their meeting ahead of the INNOPROM visit. It also noted they previously travelled together in Bishkek.

Right

50 rated outlets

  • Reports from the right-rated outlets highlighted the 'car diplomacy' between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Times of India stated this was their fourth shared ride, occurring in Delhi after their meeting at Bharat Mandapam ahead of the BRICS summit. It detailed previous shared rides in Bishkek and Tianjin, noting Putin's Aurus limousine was used on one occasion. The Hindu Business Line also mentioned the use of Putin's armoured Aurus Senat. Gulf News framed the event as 'car diplomacy' and noted four shared rides in a year. ABP News and Moneycontrol also reported on the shared car ride, with Moneycontrol mentioning the armoured Aurus Senat.

Questions about this coverage

How did the left and right cover Modi and Putin share car ride in Delhi?
Of the 117 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 28% are rated left, 29% are rated centre, 43% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 333. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
Is Modi and Putin share car ride in Delhi left or right?
Neither side dominates it. Of the 117 rated outlets on this story, 28% are rated left, 29% are rated centre, 43% are rated right, and no side holds the 70% this site would want before calling a field one-sided. A story is not left or right in any case; the outlets that carried it are what carry ratings.
Is the coverage of Modi and Putin share car ride in Delhi biased?
Modi and Putin share car ride in Delhi is one event reported by 333 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
Which side is not reporting Modi and Putin share car ride in Delhi?
When we first saw this story, outlets rated left had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
Which outlets covered Modi and Putin share car ride in Delhi?
333 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
How many times have Modi and Putin shared a car ride?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin have shared a car ride four times. Their most recent joint journey was in Delhi ahead of the BRICS summit. Previous instances occurred in Bishkek and Tianjin.
What did PM Modi give to President Putin?
During their meeting in Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi presented Russian President Vladimir Putin with a Russian translation of the Thirukkural. This ancient Tamil classic was authored by the poet-philosopher Thiruvalluvar.
Where did Modi and Putin meet before sharing a car ride?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin met at Bharat Mandapam in Delhi. This meeting took place immediately before they shared a car ride together, ahead of the BRICS summit.

Read it at the source

345 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.

Left

33
Show 25 more

Centre

35
Show 27 more

Right

55
Show 47 more

Not rated

222
Show 214 more

How did this read?

About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.

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