New Delhi: Amid much anticipation, Chinese President Xi Jinping is likely to skip the G20 summit being hosted by India next week.
According to reports, Premier Li Qiang is projected to attend the summit between September 9-10 in New Delhi as a Beijing representative. However, there is no clarification over this yet from the Indian side on whether it was conveyed directly from the Chinese side or not. Also, the Ministry of External Affairs has not officially confirmed the non-participation of Xi at the summit.
It is pertinent to note that the G20 summit has been seen as an opportunity for President Xi and US President Biden to mend their ties that have been at an all-low for various trade and geopolitical conflicts. Xi's last interaction with Biden occurred during the G20 summit in Bali in Indonesia in November 2022.
Meanwhile, PM Narendra Modi and President Xi met on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Johannesburg last week. During their conversation, PM Modi highlighted India's concerns on the unresolved issues along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Western sector of the India- China border areas.
PM Modi reiterated that maintenance of peace and tranquility in the border areas and observing and respecting the LAC are essential for the normalisation of the India-China relationship. Both leaders agreed to direct their relevant officials to intensify efforts at expeditious disengagement and de-escalation.
India and China have been engaged in a border standoff for the last three years and the relations between the two are strained due to tensions on the LAC. The two sides have held 19 rounds of talks so far to address the boundary issues in eastern Ladakh since 2020.
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Russian President Putin has already confirmed that he won't be attending the upcoming G20 summit in New Delhi. Instead, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will be seen as his representative.
