US President Joe Biden 'disappointed' on Xi Jinping's decision to skip G20 meet in Delhi

US President Joe Biden will miss his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at the G20 Summit to be held in New Delhi on 9-10 September. “I am disappointed, but I am going to get to see him,” Biden said when asked about the Chinese leader’s decision to skip to high-profile meet on 9-10 September. If Xi sticks to the decision, the next opportunity for both leaders to come face-to-face would be just a few months later when the US hosts the APEC conference in San Franciso in November. According to reports last week, the decision to skip the summit in Delhi came in the backdrop of tensions between India and China at the LAC in Ladakh and the North-east. Reportedly, China’s Premier Li Qiang will attend the summit in Xi’s stead. However, according to Bloomberg, a source in the know of things says that some other government official could be sent to Delhi. The name of this official filling-in for Xi hasn’t been announced yet. The last the two leaders met was at the G20 summit in Bali in November, 2022. However, after an alleged Chinese spy balloon was sighted over the US in February earlier this year, any progress reached after the meeting was thwarted. There have been a number of issues the two countries have come to disagreements about over the last year: US lawmakers visiting Taiwan — especially after Nancy Pelosi’s visit that triggered China into launching a massive military exercise in the Taiwan Strait; Taiwan President’s visit to the US, Banning the export of semiconductor technology to China; Reports of China running surveillance near mainland US in Cuba; and of course the “spy” balloons. The US has repeatedly stressed diffusing tensions with China. To this end a number of high-level US officials have travelled to China in recent months: Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, climate envoy John Kerry, and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. The US was looking at the Delhi summit as an opportunity to thaw relations with China. Last week Biden had said he “hopes” that Xi would attend the summit.