China’s Xi will skip G20 summit in India during a period of soured bilateral relations

Chinese President Xi Jinping is apparently skipping this week’s Group of 20 summit in India as bilateral relations remain icy.

Instead, Premier Li Qiang will represent China at the Sept. 9-10 gathering, the Foreign Ministry said Monday in a one-sentence notice on its website.

Relations between China and India have grown frosty over their disputed border. Three years ago, the tensions resulted in a clash in the Ladakh region that killed 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers. It turned into a long-running standoff in the rugged mountainous area, where each side has stationed tens of thousands of military personnel backed by artillery, tanks and fighter jets.