CURRENT AFFAIRS | MAY 14, 2026
External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar held bilateral talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in New Delhi on May 13, on the eve of the two-day BRICS Foreign Ministers’ Meeting starting Thursday. Calling India-Russia ties a “Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership”, the EAM said the relationship “becomes more valuable in volatile times” — a pointed reference to the West Asia conflict and the broader churn in global trade. The two ministers covered trade and investment, energy and connectivity, defence-industrial cooperation, AI and mobility, talent and skills, and science-technology.
Foreign affairs are an exclusive Union subject under Entry 10 of the Union List (Seventh Schedule). The President exercises treaty-making power under Article 73, acting through the Council of Ministers; Article 246 vests Parliament with exclusive law-making power on matters relating to international agreements (Entries 13, 14). The Ministry of External Affairs operationalises this — through the EAM, the Foreign Secretary, and India’s overseas missions.
The India-Russia “Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership” was elevated from a “Strategic Partnership” (2000) in 2010. It is the only bilateral relationship India describes in these exact terms, signalling priority access on defence platforms (S-400, Su-30MKI, BrahMos, AK-203 rifles), nuclear energy (Kudankulam units), and crude oil (Russia became India’s top crude supplier by volume in 2023). The 22nd India-Russia Annual Summit was held in December 2024, with President Putin visiting New Delhi. Lavrov also met Brazilian FM Mauro Vieira and South African FM Ozzy Lamola in Delhi for BRICS prep.
Sharp CLAT 2027 IR/current-affairs material: India’s strategic autonomy doctrine, the multi-alignment vs non-alignment distinction, the SPSP framework, BRICS chairship 2026, and the legal basis of treaty-making (Article 73, Entry 10 UL). Expect passages testing whether you can map terms like “Quad”, “RIC trilateral”, “SCO” and “BRICS+” to their actual member sets and India’s role in each.
India officially took over the BRICS Chairship from Brazil on January 1, 2026 — the fourth time it is hosting the bloc’s presidency (after 2012 Delhi, 2016 Goa, 2021 virtual). The Foreign Ministers’ Meet, which begins Thursday at Bharat Mandapam, is the most senior in-person ministerial gathering of India’s chair year. The wider context: rupee at 95.71/USD, oil shock from West Asia, S-400 stocks running tight, and a U.S. tariff cycle pushing India towards rouble-rupee invoicing arrangements. Jaishankar’s “more valuable in volatile times” line captures all of it.
| Date of meeting | May 13, 2026 (Delhi) |
| Framework label | Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership (since 2010) |
| BRICS chair | India (Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2026) |
| Last Annual Summit | 22nd Summit, Dec 2024 (Putin in Delhi) |
| Key platforms | S-400, Su-30MKI, BrahMos, AK-203, Kudankulam |
Special · Privileged · Strategic · Partnership — since 2010. Pair with the 4 Es: Energy, Equipment (defence), Education (talent), Economy (trade).
Practice Quiz — 10 CLAT-Style Questions
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