Chinese President Xi Jinping is planning to skip next week’s Group of 20 summit in New Delhi, according to officials familiar with preparations for the meeting, a snub that’s likely to aggravate strains with India.
Tensions between China and India — the world’s two most populous countries — already threaten to prevent G20 leaders from issuing a joint communique for the first time since the forum was created in 1999, according to separate people familiar with the situation. Xi’s nonattendance would be a further blow for the host, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Xi is not intending to travel to the Indian capital for the summit, diplomats from several countries involved in the planning said. Chinese Premier Li Qiang will attend in his place, according to one of the people, while a second said it would be another yet-to-be-named government official. All asked not to be named discussing internal deliberations.