Xi, Putin missing G-20 summit not unusual, says India’s foreign minister 

NEW DELHI - China’s President Xi Jinping and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin

skipping this week’s Group of 20 (G-20) summit in New Delhi

is not unusual and has nothing to do with India, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar told the ANI news agency.

Sherpas of the G-20 countries are negotiating to build a consensus and arrive at a declaration at the Sept 9 to 10 summit in New Delhi, Dr 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 Mr Putin and Mr 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 added.

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

But expectations from G-20 are “very high” and New Delhi faces the challenge of dealing with a “very difficult world” reeling under the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, conflict, climate change, debt and politics, he added.

G-20 groups the 20 major economies of the world and its leaders aim to try to find solutions to some of the world’s pressing problems, although a deep geopolitical divide over the

war in Ukraine

threatens any progress.

But the absence of Mr Putin and Mr Xi as well as divisions over the war mean it would be difficult to arrive at a consensus on the Leaders’ Declaration at the summit, analysts and officials have said.

United States President Joe Biden will focus on

reforming the World Bank

and urging other multilateral development banks to boost lending for climate change and infrastructure projects during the summit, the White House said on Tuesday.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has said he hopes to discuss digital issues and food security.

India has said discussions are under way on a global framework to regulate crypto assets. REUTERS