The ties between China and India have been stable on the while and Beijing supports New Delhi in hosting the G20 summit 2023, Chinese foreign ministry has said, a day after confirming that President Xi Jinping will not attend the summit and Premier Li Qiang will represent the country.

During the daily briefing on Tuesday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said that her country was ready to work with the hosts to make the New Delhi G20 summit a success.

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“We support India in hosting this year’s summit and stand ready to work with all parties to make the G20 Summit a success,” she said, adding that G20 is the premier forum for international economic cooperation.

When asked if the Chinese president decide to skip Delhi G20 summit due to tension in Indo-Sino relations, Ning said the bilateral ties between the two countries have been stable on whole and that Beijing was ready to work with New Delhi to further improve that.

“The continued improvement and growth of China-India relations serves the common interests of the two countries and two peoples. We stand ready to work with India to further improve and advance bilateral relations,” she added.

Earlier on Monday, China said that its Premier Li Qiang will represent the country at the 18^th G20 summit in India on 9-10 September instead of President Xi Jinping.

“At the invitation of the government of the Republic of India, Premier of the State Council Li Qiang will attend the 18th G20 Summit to be held in New Delhi, India on September 9 and 10,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said.

While no official reason was given behind Xi’s absence but experts believe China is uncomfortable seeing India’s growing stature at the world level.  XI’s decision to skip G20 meeting also came days after the map controversy. China had released a distorted map that included Indian territories of Ladakh and Arunanchal Pradesh.

The G20 Summit will be held in New Delhi under India’s presidency from September 9 to 10. The summit will be attended by several top international leaders including US President Joe Biden, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese among others.