It’s official! Chinese President Xi Jinping will not be attending the G20 mega meet in New Delhi this weekend, Beijing confirmed on Monday. According to the officials, China’s Premier Li Qiang will be attending the summit in place of Xi Jinping. The officials also said China hopes that the G20 summit can ‘convey confidence and promote development’. While the Chinese foreign ministry confirmed that Xi Jinping will be skipping the 18th G20 Summit, the spokesperson did not give any specific reason as to why Chinese President will not be attending the summit.
The information is yet to be confirmed by the official letter from China on Xi Jinping’s attendance at the summit. China is the second country along with Russia that is skipping G20 Summit in New Delhi, India. The President of Russia Vladimir Putin has recently confirmed his absence at the Summit 2023 via a telephone call with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
It should be noted that not only G20, Xi Jinping will also not attend this year’s ASEAN summit. This is not the first time that Xi Jinping has decided to stay away from the G20 summit. In 2021, Chinese President had skipped that G20 summit, which was held in Italy that year. At that time, the Covid curbs in China were cited as the reason behind the decision.
The last time Chinese President Xi Jinping met PM Narendra Modi was in the BRICS Summit on August 25, 2023 in South Africa. Both the leaders discussed resolving border tension of Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Arunachal Pradesh. Experts believe the Indo-China border dispute is the reason behind the absence of Xi Jinping in the G20 Summit.
India is the first South Asian country to host the G20 Summit. Delhi is shining at its best to welcome global leaders and influential personalities with open hearts. Recently, the central government planted 2.5 lakhs potted plants on all roads leading up to the key G20 venues in the National Capital. The security personnels are getting deployed to every corner of the city for the safety and less hassle for the common public as well. The Summit is a crucial event for India and different approaches are being introduced to make it successful.