Modi holds talks with Putin and Iran's president before the BRICS summit of 11 nations

NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held separate talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in New Delhi on Friday in an effort to strengthen ties ahead of a weekend summit of the BRICS grouping of countries.

The BRICS summit, chaired by India this year, is a grouping of major emerging markets and developing countries. The group’s acronym comes from the names of its founding members in 2006 — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, which joined soon after. It has since expanded to include 11 countries that make up about half the world’s population.

Modi and Putin discussed cooperation in political, economic, defense, energy and other sectors. They also spoke about India-Russia engagement in BRICS and exchanged views on regional and global issues, including Middle East conflicts, India’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

Modi thanked Pezeshkian for Iran's high-level participation in BRICS, “despite the challenging circumstances,” the ministry said, referring to the Iran war. The two leaders, who had met earlier this month in Kyrgyzstan on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting, also discussed bilateral ties, the ministry said.

The summit on Saturday and Sunday will also include Chinese President Xi Jinping. The BRICS nations have been facing a test of their unity against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East, as well as rising tensions between the United States and China.

India has for decades maintained close defense and economic ties with Russia and has called for dialogue and diplomacy to end the war in Ukraine while maintaining relations with both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

India has declined to join Western efforts to isolate Moscow over Russia's war on Ukraine. New Delhi is also pursuing major trade and investment agreements with the U.S. and Europe.

Modi on Friday reiterated that dialogue and diplomacy were the way forward between Russia and Ukraine, and said that India was ready to assist in peace efforts, the ministry said.

Russia also remains a key supplier of military equipment to India, although New Delhi has sought to diversify its defense purchases. India has also sharply increased imports of discounted Russian oil since the invasion, making energy another pillar of the relationship and helping cushion the impact of the energy crisis triggered by the Iran war.

Putin last visited India in December 2025, but he met with Modi in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, earlier this month.

Despite India's deepening partnerships with Israel and the Gulf Arab states, New Delhi has also steadily maintained its ties with Iran, though that relationship remains constrained by geopolitics as New Delhi seeks to balance its strategic interests against Western pressure.

Severe U.S. sanctions and secondary penalties on businesses trading with Iran have forced India to stop direct crude oil imports.

The foreign ministry statement said Modi called for sustained efforts to preserve regional peace and stability, safeguard maritime trade routes and protect seafarers.

“We believe that we should move forward with a long-term and win-win strategy,” Modi later said in a social media post.

Pezeshkian’s visit, his first to India, could help bridge some gaps and strengthen ties between Tehran and New Delhi, according to Praveen Donthi, senior analyst with the International Crisis Group.

“India has been forced to reckon with Iran’s importance in the region and to reconsider its approach,” Donthi said.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa inspects a joint military guard of honor upon his arrival for the BRICS summit in New Delhi, India, Friday, Sept. 11, 2026. (Indian Foreign Ministry via AP)

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, second left, poses for a photograph upon his arrival for the BRICS summit in New Delhi, India, Friday, Sept. 11, 2026. (Indian Foreign Ministry via AP)

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, center right, arrives for the BRICS summit in New Delhi, India, Friday, Sept. 11, 2026. (Indian Foreign Ministry via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, center left, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, center right, talk to each other during their meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in New Delhi, India, on Friday, Sept. 11, 2026. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi pose for a photo during their meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in New Delhi, India, on Friday, Sept. 11, 2026. (Kristina Solovyova, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and other Republican officials came together for a two-day convention this week to rally voters in advance of midterm elections in November. But in celebrating their accomplishments, they made several false and misleading claims, many of which have been stated repeatedly during Trump's second term.

They covered topics including the economy, jobs, healthcare and the 2020 election. Trump spoke both nights and Vance gave the keynote on Thursday.

Here's a closer look at the facts.

VANCE: “We’ve created 1 million new jobs, and unlike the last administration, where most of the job growth went to illegal aliens, 100% of the job growth in the United States of America is going to American citizens.”

THE FACTS: Overall, the United States has added 807,000 jobs since Trump took office for his second term, close to Vance’s claim of 1 million. But by historical standards, it’s not a particularly large increase.

New jobs have averaged about 80,000 a month this year. That’s up from 2025’s dismal rate of about 9,700 a month on average. But job creation remains well below what was seen during the Biden administration. In 2024 and 2023, 166,000 monthly jobs were the norm — and the hiring boom that followed pandemic lockdowns brought numbers closer to 491,000 a month during 2021 and 2022.

Meanwhile, Vance’s claim that all jobs added under Trump have gone to American citizens is misleading and needs context. It is based on data that is highly distorted by population changes, and the Labor Department and independent economists strongly discourage using the government’s figures to measure how many jobs are held by immigrants or native-born Americans.

Instead, most economists recommend looking at unemployment rates to get a sense of how native-born and foreign-born workers are faring. And since Trump’s inauguration in January 2025, the unemployment rate for native-born Americans has risen to 4.6% from 4.3%, suggesting the economy hasn’t been a boon for American citizens.

Foreign-born workers, meanwhile, have seen their unemployment rate drop sharply, from 4.6% to 3.4%, from January 2025 through August. The foreign-born population includes legal immigrants and naturalized citizens as well as undocumented immigrants.

Even those figures could be distorted by the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, which may have caused some immigrants to avoid responding to government surveys, economists say.

Several studiesreleased in recent months have found that the sharp increase in deportations under Trump has slowed hiring and growth in the communities where they have taken place. Many immigrants have stayed home during the crackdowns to avoid being arrested, cutting into shopping and spending. And some small businesses that have lost foreign-born workers have struggled to replace them and have taken on less work.

SCOTT BESSENT, treasury secretary, speaking Wednesday: “Under this president, more Americans are working than ever before.”

THE FACTS: This is true, but missing context. The economy adds jobs most months, so U.S. payrolls are continually hitting new highs. Jobs have increased in the United States in 65 of the past 80 years.

In Trump’s second term, however, job growth has slowed considerably. Last year, companies, government agencies and nonprofits added just 9,700 jobs a month — the weakest hiring outside a recession since 2002. So far this year, they’ve been creating 92,000 jobs a month, considerably better but unimpressive by historical standards.

During President Joe Biden’s four years in office, employers added an average of nearly 329,000 jobs a month. Those totals were inflated by a record-breaking hiring surge in 2021 and 2022 that followed the end of COVID-19 lockdowns. But even in Biden’s last two years — 2023 and 2024 — job growth averaged 166,000 a month.

High interest rates, Trump’s own immigration crackdown and the retirement of Baby Boomers are contributing to lower job growth.

TRUMP, discussing investment in the U.S.: “We have more money being spent from outside countries and companies — over $20 trillion.”

THE FACTS: Trump has cited an increasingly higher number for investments in the U.S. throughout his second term, claiming on Wednesday that the number could go up to $25 trillion. But he has presented no evidence that he has secured this amount of funds from either foreign or domestic sources.

Based on statements from various companies, foreign countries and the White House’s own website, that figure appears to be highly speculative and far higher than the actual sum.

The White House website offers a far lower number, $11.2 trillion, and that figure appears to include some investment commitments made during the Biden administration.

MIKE JOHNSON, House speaker, on Thursday: “At the end of the first Trump administration, the inflation rate was 1.4%. Yeah. But Joe Biden came in and he reversed the policies and brought us to a 40-year high of 9.1% inflation.”

THE FACTS: This is missing context. Inflation was at 1.4% in 2021 as Biden assumed the presidency, having risen from a low of 0.1% in May 2020, two months into the COVID-19 pandemic. It continued to increase steadily in the first 17 months of Biden's presidency, reaching a peak of 9.1% in June 2022.

However, it had dropped to 2.9% in December 2024 as Biden prepared to leave office. During Trump's second term so far, inflation rose to a high of 4.2% in May. As of August, it was at 3.4%.

TRUMP: “The stock market has set 80 all-time record highs.”

THE FACTS: It’s unclear what exact stock market measure Trump is referring to. But the S&P 500 — an index for the biggest public companies in the U.S. — has hit a record 66 times since the start of Trump’s second term in January 2025, including 27 new highs since the start of this year, per a count from investment research firm CFRA. It’s hit 76 records since the 2024 presidential election.

U.S. stocks soared to their last record on Aug. 13, as part of a broader rally driven by a surge in company profits and then-easing oil prices. But renewed fighting between the U.S. and Iran, as well as an escalation in supply chain disruptions elsewhere, has led to more market volatility since. This week, for example, the international benchmark for crude oil soared past the $100 mark for the first time in months.

Beyond the war, some of the biggest market swings this year have resulted from the frenzy ( and skepticism ) around the value of artificial-intelligence technology.

VANCE: “We actually took on big pharma and lowered drug costs for all of our citizens.”

THE FACTS: Federal data shows that U.S. prescription drug prices fell 0.9% in July and are down 3.1% from a year ago, the steepest year-over-year drop since 1963. The White House said these plunging prices resulted from Trump’s “most favored nation” drug deal with pharmaceutical firms and the TrumpRx website, which it said are “delivering real relief to American families and putting patients first.”

But drug pricing experts say the real picture is more complicated, noting that other factors, including a law from Biden’s time in office that allowed Medicare to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies, are potentially more significant contributors to the latest consumer price index figures. Also at play are generic and biosimilar products that have come onto the market, offering competition that drives down the prices of expensive brand-name and biologic drugs.

Plus, consumers may not see this price drop in what they pay for medication, as it reflects what pharmacies get paid for the drugs, both by insurers and consumers.

TRUMP: “When I'm on the ticket, Republicans always do very well. We won the presidency three times.”

THE FACTS: Trump won the presidency in 2016 and 2024, but he did not prevail in the 2020 race, despite his repeated claims otherwise.

Biden earned 306 electoral votes to Trump's 232, achieving victory by prevailing in key states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona and Georgia. The Democratic candidate also earned over 7 million more popular votes than Trump.

Trump’s allegations of massive voting fraud have been refuted by a variety of judges, state election officials and members of his first administration who were in office during the 2020 election.

Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck.

Vice President JD Vance points to President Donald Trump at the Republican convention Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Vice President JD Vance applauds as President Donald Trump arrives on the stage at the Republican convention Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)