Xi Will Not Go To India For G20, Biden Expresses Disappointment

India-West News Desk

BEIJING – Confirming speculation that Chinese President Xi Jinping‘s participation will not attend the G20 Summit in New Delhi, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China has announced that Li Qiang will attend instead, on September 9 and 10. No reason was given in the statement about Xi’s absence from the summit.

Reuters had already reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping was likely to skip the summit. He had attended the BRICS Summit in South Africa last week.

Several G20 ministerial meetings in India ahead of the summit have been contentious as Russia and China together opposed joint statements which included paragraphs condemning Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine last year, according to Reuters.

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden who will visit India from Sept. 7-10 followed by a trip to Vietnam said of the Chinese announcement, “I am disappointed.” Biden is looking to strengthen U.S. relations in Asia with this trip saying, “I want a little more … coordination. I think they both (India and Vietnam) want much closer relations with the United States and that can be very helpful.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s absence will also not attend the summit in India.