US President Joe Biden is looking forward to his trip to India this week, but he is disappointed that Chinese President Xi Jinping won’t be at the G20 meeting in New Delhi. The White House said on Friday that Biden will go to India on September 7 to take part in the G20 Summit. On September 8, he will meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of this important meeting.
As the current president of G20, India is in charge of the group’s yearly summit, which will take place on September 9 and 10 in New Delhi.
Reporters asked Biden on Sunday, the day before his trip, if he was excited to go to India and Vietnam.
“Yes, I am,” answered Biden.
He said that he was sad that President Xi of China wouldn’t be at the meeting in New Delhi.
Biden said in answer to a question, “I’m disappointed, but I’ll get to see him.”
Recent news stories say that it’s unlikely that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi will be there.
Muktesh Pardeshi, the Special Secretary for the G20, said on Friday that India is looking for written confirmation from China that President Xi will attend the G20 Leaders Summit.
“We’ve read some things about it in the papers. But we go by what’s written down. And we haven’t seen any proof in writing. “Until we see that, I can’t say one way or the other,” Pardeshi told PTI when asked about stories that Xi would skip the G20 meeting and send Li Qiang instead.
