NEW DELHI/BEIJING- Sources from India and China have indicated that Chinese President Xi Jinping might not attend the upcoming G20 summit in India next week.

Instead, Premier Li Qiang is expected to represent China at the September 9-10 meeting in New Delhi. There has been no response from the Indian and Chinese foreign ministries regarding this matter.

The G20 summit in India was anticipated as a potential opportunity for Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden to hold discussions, aiming to mend their strained relationship due to various trade and geopolitical conflicts.

Biden's participation has been confirmed. Xi and Biden previously met during the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, last November.

Additionally, Russian President Vladimir Putin has revealed his decision not to attend the event in New Delhi, opting to send Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as his representative.

A high-ranking government official from India, speaking to Reuters, mentioned that they have knowledge of the premier's impending attendance in place of Xi at the summit.

Meanwhile, within China, two foreign diplomats and a government official representing another G20 country have indicated that Xi's participation in the summit is unlikely.

These sources in China, two of whom claim to have been informed by Chinese officials, have stated their lack of awareness regarding the reason behind Xi's expected nonattendance.

All these officials have chosen to remain anonymous as they are not authorized to engage with the media.

The anticipation of a meeting between Xi and Biden has been fueled by a series of visits by prominent U.S. officials to Beijing in recent months. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo's recent trip to China has added to this anticipation.

Furthermore, there is another upcoming summit that has been suggested as a platform for face-to-face discussions between the two leaders: the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders Meeting scheduled for November 12-18 in San Francisco.

Xi Jinping, who secured an unprecedented third term as China's leader in October of the previous year, has been sparing in his overseas travels since the removal of strict pandemic-related border controls earlier this year.

However, he did participate in a meeting of leaders from the BRICS group (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) in South Africa last week.

Preceding the G20 summit, a number of ministerial meetings in India have been marked by disagreements. Russia and China jointly opposed statements that contained sections condemning Russia for its invasion of Ukraine the previous year.

On the sidelines of the BRICS meeting in Johannesburg, Xi and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had an unusual discussion, focusing on easing tensions in their bilateral relationship. This relationship had become strained after clashes along their Himalayan border in 2020 resulted in the deaths of 24 soldiers.