Chinese President Xi Jinping is likely to skip the G20 leaders’ summit in India next week, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing sources familiar with the matter in India and China.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang is expected to represent Beijing at the September 9-10 meeting in New Delhi, the news agency said citing two Indian officials, one diplomat based in China and one official working for the government of another G20 country.
Chinese President #XiJinping likely to skip the G20 Summit in India, Report“If he doesn’t come, heaven is not going to fall.” says @sushantsareen, Senior Fellow ORF and decodes what it will mean for India #G20Summit2023 #G20SummitIndia | @ToyaSingh pic.twitter.com/cFgzR5us74
— News18 (@CNNnews18) August 31, 2023
The G20 summit in New Delhi had been seen as a potential ground for meeting Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden. And even a possible bilateral between the Chinese President and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The report of Xi’s absence comes days after the Kremlin announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin won’t attend the event. Instead, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will represent Moscow at the forum.
A senior Indian government official confirmed to Reuters that Xi will be replaced by Premier Li Qiang. Chinese sources indicated Xi’s probable non-attendance, but the reason remains undisclosed.
Xi, who began his third term last year, made limited foreign trips due to eased pandemic restrictions.
The Chinese President recently participated in the BRICS meeting in South Africa, where he had an informal conversation with PM Modi amid the ongoing border tensions between New Delhi and Beijing.
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