President of the United States Joe Biden said on Sunday that he was looking forward to his travel to India this week despite being disappointed that his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping would not be attending the G20 summit in New Delhi.
The White House just announced that President Biden will travel to India next week to take part in the G20 event and that he will meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a private setting on September 8 outside of the event.
To a question from a reporter if he was looking forward to his visits to India and Vietnam, Biden replied, “Yes, I am.”
During the summit in the national capital on September 9 and 10, Biden will commend PM Modi for his leadership of the G20, the White House said earlier this week.
“The President will travel to New Delhi, India to attend the G20 Leaders’ Summit. On Friday, the President will participate in a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” the White House said in its week-ahead schedule of the President released on September 7.
President Biden voiced dismay earlier on Monday over Chinese Premier Xi Jinping’s decision to skip the two-day G20 summit in India on September 9 and 10, even as Washington works to mend relations with Beijing.
When asked explicitly about reports that Xi will not attend the meeting in New Delhi, Biden responded, “I am disappointed, but I am going to see him,” to reporters without going into further detail.
The transition to clean energy and combating climate change, reducing the economic and social effects of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and building the capacity of multilateral development banks are just a few of the issues that Biden and other G20 members will discuss during their visit to India.