The New Indian Express ·
Politics
BRICS 2026: PM Modi's 'car diplomacy' turns into a talking point, once again
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi appears to have pioneered a form of “car diplomacy”, or what may alternatively be termed “car-pool diplomacy”, which has now become a vogue among global leaders.
Whenever PM Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet, their decision to travel together in a car often becomes a talking point, prompting political observers across the world to speculate about the hidden objectives and messages.
Rather than a matter of convenience or protocol, these informal journeys are frequently interpreted as a subtle instrument of diplomatic signalling.
On Friday, Putin and Modi travelled together in Putin’s highly fortified Aurus Senat to see an exhibition showcasing India-Russia collaborations at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi.
The meticulously crafted gesture caught global attention and prompted a range of interpretations.
On December 4, 2025, Modi received Putin at Palam Airport, after which the two leaders travelled together in a white Toyota Fortuner for a private dinner.
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, President of the UAE, was also received by Modi upon his arrival in Delhi in January 2026, and the two leaders travelled together in the same car.
In 2025, in Mumbai, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Modi travelled together to the Global Fintech Fest.
Similarly, in January 2026, the Chancellor of Germany shared a picture of himself travelling together with Modi. Modi appears to have adapted this form of car-based diplomacy as early as 2017, using car rides with the heads of visiting countries as an informal diplomatic gesture.
According to a rough and conservative estimate, Modi has so far shared car rides with over 10 heads of state and government from across the world.
Seven of these took place during his overseas visits, while the remaining three occurred in India.
In 2025, in Tianjin, China, on the sidelines of the SCO summit, Modi rode in a car with Putin in the Russian President’s highly secured, Russian-made Aurus limousine to the venue of their bilateral meeting.
Putin then remarked, “The car ride with PM Modi was my idea. It was a symbol of friendship”.
In 2025, Modi also rode in a car with the Crown Prince of Jordan, who drove the vehicle to the Jordan Museum. The visit marked the first bilateral visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Jordan in 37 years.
Later that year, during Modi’s visit to Ethiopia, he travelled by car to his hotel, with the vehicle being driven by Addis Ababa.
In January 2026, Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev received Modi at the airport, and the two leaders travelled together by car to the Presidential Palace for a dinner meeting.
The car ride between Modi and the Uzbek President was seen as another example of this emerging style of personal diplomacy.
The visit subsequently coincided with the elevation of India-Uzbekistan ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, reinforcing the perception that Modi’s “car diplomacy” is gaining momentum and wider international acceptance.
The French President has also shared a car ride with Modi. Similarly, Benjamin Netanyahu, during Modi’s visit to Israel in 2017, drove a car with the Indian Prime Minister in Jerusalem.
What may appear at first glance to be nothing more than a short journey between two political leaders can, in the theatre of international diplomacy, acquire significance far beyond the distance travelled.
A shared car ride removes, at least temporarily, some of the formality associated with official meetings and creates an image of proximity, trust and personal rapport.
For Modi, such moments have increasingly become part of a broader diplomatic vocabulary — one in which the symbolism of who travels with whom, in whose car and to where can communicate a message just as powerfully as a formal statement or joint declaration.
"A shared car ride between two leaders may last only a few minutes, but the political image it creates can travel much further. It projects proximity, personal chemistry and, at times, a sense of trust that is difficult to manufacture in the rigid choreography of official meetings”, remarked a noted scholar of political science, Dr RK Verma.
Dr Archana Kumari, an analyst of International Affairs at a university in Bihar, summed up, saying, “The deeper significance of 'car diplomacy' lies in the psychology of political imagery.
A handshake lasts seconds.
A bilateral meeting may last an hour.
A joint statement may contain dozens of carefully negotiated paragraphs.
But an image of two leaders sitting together in a car can communicate something much simpler and potentially more powerful: "We are comfortable with each other”.
She further said that the message can be especially valuable when the bilateral relationship is being watched closely by allies, rivals and international observers.
