Washington: US President Joe Biden said he is looking forward to visiting India this week, but is disappointed that his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will not attend the G20 summit in New Delhi. The White House announced last Friday that Biden will visit India on September 7 to attend the G-20 summit and on September 8 he will hold a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of this historic event. India, as the chair of the G20, is hosting the influential group’s annual summit on September 9-10. More than two dozen world leaders, including Biden, are scheduled to participate.
Ahead of the trip, reporters asked Joe Biden on Sunday if he was looking forward to a trip to India and Vietnam. In response, the US President said, ‘Yes, I am.’ He expressed disappointment at Chinese President Xi Jinping not attending the conference, and when asked about this, Biden said, ‘I’m disappointed, but I’ll meet him.’ According to recent media reports, apart from Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin will also not attend the G20 summit. G20 India Special Secretary Muktesh Pardeshi said on Friday that India is awaiting a written confirmation from China regarding President Xi Jinping’s participation in the G20 Leaders’ Summit.
Responding to a question about Xi not attending the conference and sending Prime Minister Li Qiang in his place, Pardeshi said, ‘We have seen some news published in the newspapers. But, we believe in written confirmation and we have not received any written confirmation yet. I am not in a position to comment until we get this. Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang is likely to visit India after attending the East Asia Summit in Jakarta. Earlier, in 2021, Xi did not participate in the G20 summit held in Italy due to the restrictions imposed by China to prevent Covid-19.
Pardeshi said the participation of world leaders in summits like the G20 is usually communicated through a diplomatic note. On Xi’s involvement, he said, “I think confirmation is awaited in this regard… We have received confirmation from most countries.” Besides Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva are among the G20 leaders who have already attended the summit. is confirmed his participation.
During the summit, Prime Minister Modi will hand over the presidency of the G20 to Brazilian President Lula on September 10. Brazil will formally assume the presidency of the G20 on December 1. The G20 group includes Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union ( EU).
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Tags: G20 Summit, News of India, Joe Biden, xi Jinping
First published: September 04, 2023, 09:50 IST