Russian President Vladimir Putin's plane became the most-watched plane in the world on December 4, according to data from the FlightRadar24 aviation monitoring platform.
The most-watched flight at the moment: One of the Russian Government flights is heading to India, FlightRadar24 announced on X and on its official website.
FlightRadar24 said it had detected two Russian government aircraft traveling in the same direction. One turned off the transformer (transponder), while the other turned on - the rotation operation made observers even more curious.
The signal transmitter is a device that provides flight coordinates and data for air traffic control, and turning off/off alternately is a common security measure for heads with high protection levels like the Russian President.
Mr. Putin rarely moves without carrying two symbols of Russian power: the Aurus Senat armored limousine and the Ilyushin IL-96-300PU, a deep- action customized aircraft that is considered the Kremlin Air Force.
This is an improved version of the IL-96-300, a long-range four- engine aircraft developed by the Ilyushin Design Institute in the 1980s, first took off in 1988 and was put into service in the early 1990s.
President Putin arrived in New Delhi on the evening of December 4, welcomed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the airport.
According to TASS, as soon as he got off the plane, the Russian President did not step into the familiar Aurus that was waiting, but chose to sit on a white SUV of Prime Minister Modi - an act of diplomatic politeness of the host - guests.
Mr. Putin sat on the right, seats for guests, in line with the Indian traffic rules for going to the left. Russian media reiterated that Mr. Putin often uses Aurus cars on business trips, even using them to hold secret talks with leaders of other countries.
Last September, President Putin invited Prime Minister Modi to travel with the Aurus during a meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit in China. The two sat in the car for another 50 minutes to discuss separately after arriving.
A similar situation has also occurred in Alaska when the Russia-US talks began right on the bus of US President Donald Trump, or during a private meeting between President Putin and North Korean President Kim Jong-un.
International media calls this style "overseas limousine". Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov explained: "When the heads discuss important matters, they don't have time to walk around. Sitting on a car is the most time-saving and convenient way.
The tradition of rotating high-level visits to Russia and India began in 2000, when President Putin and then-Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee signed a statement on the strategic partnership. Since then, the two sides have maintained regular visits, despite interruptions by the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical fluctuations.
Mr. Putin last visited India in 2021. Prime Minister Modi visited Moscow last year, marking the restoration of high-level exchanges between the two countries that have had a strong relationship for decades.
With this global fever flight and a two-day meeting in New Delhi, the world is closely monitoring Russia and India to shape the next strategic relationship between the two Asian and European powers.
