Chinese President Xi Jinping did not attend the gala dinner hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for leaders of the BRICS nations and other partner countries on Saturday. This event took place during the BRICS summit in New Delhi, highlighting a notable absence from a key diplomatic gathering.
Apart from Xi, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was also a notable absentee at the high dinner table, news agency PTI reported, quoting sources. The Chinese president arrived in New Delhi on Saturday afternoon to attend the BRICS Summit, on the sidelines of which he also held a bilateral meeting with PM Modi. The Prince left for the UAE right after attending the BRICS Summit during the day. So while the reason for the Abu Dhabi Crown’s absence was known in advance, the Chinese President’s decision not to attend the dinner became a source of intrigue and curiosity. The reason for the absence of the Chinese President Xi Jinping was not immediately known as there was no official statement on the issue, either from the Chinese side or even the Indian government. But a source quoted by PTI suggested that Xi had returned to his hotel to rest. He had left China in the morning and reached Delhi around noon. The summit began at around 2pm, presumably leaving him with little time to recuperate from the journey. Russian President Vladimir Putin and other BRICS leaders attended While Xi gave the gala dinner a miss. Union ministers and the chief ministers of several states were also present on the occasion. The Union ministers who attended the dinner included home minister Amit Shah, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, commerce minister Piyush Goyal, railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. The Union ministers and chief ministers travelled in two buses from the Parliament House to the dinner venue at Bharat Mandapam.
