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Xi, Putin missing G20 summit not unusual, India's foreign minister says

06 September 2023 09:22 (UTC +04:00)

China's President Xi Jinping and Russia's Vladimir Putin skipping this week's G20 summit in New Delhi is not unusual and has nothing to do with India, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said, APA reports citing Reuters.

Sherpas of the G20 countries are negotiating to build a consensus and arrive at a declaration at the Sept. 9-10 summit in New Delhi, Jaishankar said in the interview, which was aired on Wednesday.

"No, no. I do not think it has anything to do with India," he told ANI, in which Reuters has a minority stake, when asked if Putin and Xi are skipping the summit because they are miffed with India.

"I think whatever decision they make, I mean they would know best. But I would not at all see it the way you would suggest," he said.

Asked if their absence would affect building a consensus and producing a declaration at the end of the summit, Jaishankar said: "We are negotiating right now...the clock did not start ticking yesterday."