New Delhi: Chinese President Xi Jinping is likely to skip the G20 leaders’ summit in India next week. Instead, Chinese Premier Li Qiang is expected to represent Beijing at the September 9-10 meeting in New Delhi, news agency Reuters reported on Thursday, citing sources familiar with the matter.
A day before, the Kremlin announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin won’t attend the event either. 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.
The Chinese President recently participated in the BRICS meeting in South Africa, where he had an informal conversation with PM Modi.