Xi missing G20 summit not unusual, countries working on consensus, India says
By YP Rajesh
NEW DELHI (Reuters) -China's President Xi Jinping skipping this week's G20 summit in New Delhi was not unusual and will not affect negotiations to produce a consensus communique at the meeting, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said.
The Sept. 9-10 summit of leaders of the world's richest countries is being held in the context of a «very turbulent» global environment and expectations from G20 to find solutions to some of the world's pressing problems are «very high», he told the ANI news agency.
The G20 has been divided due to differences over the war in Ukraine, and analysts and officials have said the absence of Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin mean it would be difficult to arrive at a consensus Leaders Declaration at the summit.
Five Indian government sources said on Wednesday that differences about climate change goals have resurfaced during the last two days of sherpa level meetings and become another stumbling block for G20 leaders to iron out at the summit.
The bloc, which groups the 20 major economies of the world, is divided on commitments to phasing down fossil-fuel use, increasing renewable energy targets and reducing green house gas emissions, they said.
Besides, the language to be used on the Russia-Ukraine conflict in the leaders' declaration has yet to be finalised, another Indian government source said.
In the interview, which was aired on Wednesday, Jaishankar said sherpas, or country representatives, of the G20 members are negotiating to build a consensus and arrive at a declaration.
Jaishankar also played down a threat from his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov — who will represent Moscow at the summit in Putin's place — that Russia will block the summit's final
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