China yet to confirm Xi Jinping's in-person presence at G20 summit

India has not yet received any confirmation on Chinese president Xi Jinping's in-person participation at the upcoming G20 summit, those familiar with the matter said on Thursday, 31 August amid reports that he is unlikely to travel to New Delhi.

A majority of G20 leaders, including US president Joe Biden, French president Emmanuel Macron, Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese, UK prime minister Rishi Sunak, Japanese premier Shinzo Abe and Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, have already confirmed their participation in the summit, while Russian president Vladimir Putin has conveyed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that it will not be possible for him to travel to India.

India is hosting the G20 summit in New Delhi on 9 and 10 September.

Asked about a media report that said Xi is likely to skip the G20 summit, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin stated that he has nothing to offer on it.

"Of the Chinese leaders attending the G20 summit, I have nothing to offer at the moment," Wang said.

The ties between India and China have been under severe strain since the deadly clashes in Galwan Valley in June 2020.

Indian and Chinese troops have been locked in an over three-year confrontation at certain friction points in eastern Ladakh even as the two sides completed disengagement from several areas following extensive diplomatic and military talks.

India has been consistently maintaining that peace and tranquillity along the line of actual control (LOC) were key for normalisation of overall ties. On its part, China has been arguing that the boundary question does not represent the "entirety" of the bilateral relations, insisting that the two sides should move forward on overall relations.

Modi and Xi held an informal conversation on 23 August on the sidelines of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) summit in Johannesburg.

Following the conversation, India's foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra said Modi conveyed to Xi India's concerns on the "unresolved" issues along the LOC in eastern Ladakh, underlining that maintenance of peace and tranquillity in border areas was essential for normalisation of India-China ties.

Kwatra said the two heads of state also agreed to direct their relevant officials to intensify efforts at "expeditious disengagement and de-escalation".

However, the Chinese readout did not have any mention of this. On 28 August, China released a so-called "standard map" laying claim over Arunachal Pradesh and the Aksai Chin, drawing strong protest from India.

The "map" also showed the entire South China Sea and Taiwan as part of China, as in previous editions.