New Delhi: Chinese president Xi Jinping skipped a gala dinner hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for BRICS leaders and other delegates participating in the Summit in New Delhi on Saturday.
This was reported by PTI reported, which cited sources familiar with the matter.
The crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed, was the second notable absentee from the high-profile dinner. He reportedly departed for home after attending the summit earlier in the day.
While the actual reason for Xi’s absence from PM Modi’s BRICS gala dinner is not yet known; a source suggested that the Chinese president returned to his hotel to rest.
Xi had reached New Delhi on Saturday afternoon and held a bilateral meeting with PM Modi later in the day.
The dinner was attended by Russian president Vladimir Putin and other BRICS leaders, alongside several Union ministers, including Amit Shah, Nirmala Sitharaman, Piyush Goyal, Ashwini Vaishnaw and Shivraj Singh Chouhan, as reported by The Indian Express.
The other attendees included Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and chief ministers like Yogi Adityanath, Devendra Fadnavis, Suvendu Adhikari, and Himanta Biswa Sarma.
Speaking on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit, PM Modi and Xi said that “differences should not become disputes” and committed themselves to “a fair, reasonable, and mutually acceptable resolution of the boundary question”.
The Prime Minister, during the bilateral meeting, highlighted that “both sides must be guided by three mutuals: mutual respect, mutual sensitivity and mutual interest”, according to a statement from the Ministry of External Affairs,
These “three mutuals” have been part of Delhi’s red lines over the last five years.
Xi had been quoted by the Chinese foreign ministry as telling Modi that “China and India are partners rather than rivals”, providing “development opportunities rather than threats to each other”.
The two sides should “address each other’s economic and trade concerns in a balanced way and promote the sound and steady development of economic and trade relations”, Xi said.
