China indicated on Sep. 4 that President Xi Jinping will not attend the upcoming G20 Summit.
Instead, Premier Li Qiang will be representing China instead at the 2023 G20 Summit in New Delhi, India, from Sep. 9-10, CNN reported.
If so, this is the first time China's top leader will miss a G20 Summit.
Even during the Covid-19 pandemic, Xi attended the summit in 2020 and in 2021 by video conferencing.
'Worsening' China-India tensions
In response to a media question on why Xi will not be attending the summit, China did not directly deny or confirm Xi's absence.
Instead, China's foreign ministry said that the country has treated these events with "great importance" and has "actively participated" in them.
Xi's absence comes amid a "worsening" China-India relationship.
On Aug. 29, India strongly protested China's controversial map, of which China asserted territorial claims over the disputed regions of Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin along the Himalayan border.
Image via China's Ministry of Natural Resources.
India's foreign ministry rejected those claims, saying that the claims have "no basis" and "complicate" the disputes.
This incident arose about a week after both countries had agreed to "de-escalate" the border dispute at the BRICS summit on Aug. 23.
'Disappointed', says Biden
U.S. President Joe Biden has confirmed his attendance at the G20 summit.
On Xi's absence, Biden told CNN reporters, "I am disappointed, but I am going to see him."
He did not elaborate further.
However, CNN previously reported on Aug. 18 that Biden would be meeting with Xi in "the fall".
U.S. President Joe Biden said that he was disappointed that Chinese President Xi Jinping was not attending the summit of G20 in Delhi #JoeBiden #G20Summit2023 #China #XiJinping pic.twitter.com/46XZYV18HP
— News18 (@CNNnews18) September 4, 2023
Xi will also not be attending the 2023 Asean summit from Sep. 5-7.
In a similar vein, Russian President Vladimir Putin will not be attending the G20 Summit. He faces an international arrest warrant over alleged war crimes in Ukraine.
Top image from Narendra Modi/X.