From Putin To Starmer, Now UAE President: PM Modi's 'Carpool' Diplomacy Sets New Trend

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s informal car rides with world leaders, from Vladimir Putin to Keir Starmer and the UAE President, have emerged as a distinctive symbol of India’s personal, trust-driven diplomacy. What began as a spontaneous gesture has evolved into a recurring diplomatic style, highlighting warmth and closeness in India’s ties with key global partners.

A simple car ride has emerged as an unexpected symbol of India’s evolving diplomacy. What began as an informal gesture by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an overseas summit has steadily turned into a distinctive diplomatic style, with world leaders increasingly sharing rides with him, moments that are now carefully noted for the message they convey on personal rapport and political trust.

The trend traces back to last year’s Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in China, when PM Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin travelled together in a made-in-Russia Aurus sedan. Recalling the moment, Putin later said, “The car ride with PM Modi was my idea. It was a symbol of our friendship.” The image quickly stood out as an unconventional but telling display of closeness between the two leaders.

Since then, similar scenes have followed across continents.

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Most recently, UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan arrived in New Delhi on Monday for a brief one-and-a-half-hour visit. Breaking protocol, Prime Minister Modi personally received him at the airport. The two leaders exchanged a warm hug before leaving together in the same car, a gesture reflecting the close personal bond that has come to define India-UAE relations. Sharing photographs of the ride on X, Modi wrote simply, “Welcome, my brother.”

In Europe, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer became another participant in what observers have dubbed “carpool diplomacy”. During Starmer’s two-day visit to India, his first since taking office in July 2024, the two leaders travelled together to Mumbai’s Global Fintech Fest 2025. Posting a photograph from the journey, Modi said the India-UK relationship was “on the move” and “filled with great vigour”.

“A picture from earlier today, when my friend PM Starmer and I began our journey to attend the Global Fintech Fest,” Modi added. Starmer was leading a UK trade mission of more than 100 businesses during the visit.

The pattern has extended beyond visiting leaders to host nations as well. During his Africa tour, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, personally received Modi at Addis Ababa airport and drove him to his hotel, making an unscheduled stop at the Science Museum and Friendship Park. The Ministry of External Affairs described it as a special gesture highlighting long-standing India-Ethiopia ties.

Earlier the same day, Jordan’s Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II drove Modi to The Jordan Museum in Amman, a moment the Prime Minister shared online, underscoring the warmth of bilateral relations.

Germany joined the list last week when Chancellor Friedrich Merz, on his first visit to India, shared a car ride with Modi. Posting a photo, the Prime Minister said India-Germany friendship continued to deepen through shared values, cooperation and mutual understanding.

While the car rides themselves are brief, diplomats note that the optics matter. In an era of carefully choreographed engagements, these informal moments signal comfort, familiarity and trust, traits that often underpin stronger strategic ties.

What began as a spontaneous gesture with President Putin has now become a recurring visual of India’s outreach under PM Modi, subtle, personal and deliberately unscripted, yet rich in diplomatic meaning.