BEIJING (AP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping will skip this week’s Group of 20 summit in India as bilateral relations remain icy and Premier Li Qiang will attend in his place, China’s Foreign Ministry said Monday.
A one sentence notice on the ministry’s website says: “At the invitation of the government of the Republic of India, Premier of the State Council Li Qiang will attend the 18th G20 Summit to be held in New Delhi, India on September 9 and 10.”
Relations between China and India have grown frosty over their disputed border that three years ago resulted in a violent clash between their troops, resulting in the deaths of 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese. They have also clashed over trade and India’s growing strategic ties with China’s main regional rival the United States.
India recently overtook China as the world’s most populous nation and the two are rivals in technology, space exploration and global trade.