Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar has played down notable absences from the upcoming G-20 summit in New Delhi, saying it was nothing out of the ordinary.
Speaking to Indian media Wednesday, Jaishankar said China's President Xi Jinping and Russia's Vladimir Putin skipping the is not unusual and has nothing to do with India.
Leaders of the G-20 countries are negotiating to build a consensus and arrive at a declaration at the Sept. 9-10 summit in New Delhi, Jaishankar said in the interview.
"No, no. I do not think it has anything to do with India," he told the ANI news agency when asked if Putin and 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 said.
Asked if their absence would affect building a consensus and producing a declaration at the end of the summit, 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 pandemic, conflict, climate change, debt and politics, he said.
G-20 groups the 20 major economies of the world and its leaders aim to try and 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 Putin and Xi as well as divisions over the war mean it would be difficult to arrive at a consensus Leaders Declaration at the summit, analysts and officials have said.
U.S. 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 Tuesday.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has said he hopes to discuss digital issues and food security. India has said discussions are underway on a global framework to regulate crypto assets.
