G-20 Summit: After Russian President Putin, Xi Jinping To Skip Global Meet In New Delhi

It has now been confirmed that Chinese President Xi Jinping will not be attending the G-20 summit in New Delhi.

Instead, Premier Li Qiang will represent China at the global event scheduled between 9-10 September.

According to a report by Hindustan Times, Premier Li Qiang will travel directly to New Delhi after participating in the 43rd ASEAN summit in Jakarta from 5-7 September.

Flight plans for the VVIP aircraft have already been submitted, although formal communication is still awaited by the Ministry of External Affairs, the report stated.

While the Indian government has chosen not to comment on the reasons behind President Xi's absence from the G-20 summit, it remains concerned about China's recent release of what it calls the "standard map."

This map includes parts of Aksai Chin and the entire Arunachal Pradesh as part of China's territory, a move seen as cartographical expansion. The timing of this map's release had raised significant questions about President Xi's attendance at the upcoming summit in Delhi.

During the recent BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, Prime Minister Narendra Modi briefly interacted with the Chinese leader.

During this exchange, he expressed serious concerns about the situation along the Line of Actual Control.

According to the HT report, the Chinese president appears displeased with Prime Minister Modi's stance that normalising ties can only occur after the People's Liberation Army withdraws its forces from Aksai Chin and the Indian Army's patrolling rights are reinstated in the Depsang Bulge and CNN Junction in Demchok.

Apart from Xi, Russian President Vladimir Putin will also not attend the G-20 Summit.

According to spokesperson for the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov, Russian President is skipping the summit to focus on the 'special military operation' in Ukraine.