In a first in 12 years, Chinese President Xi Jinping may skip Brics summit in Brazil

NEW DELHI: Chinese President Xi Jinping plans to skip the Brics summit in Brazil next month, which, if confirmed, will be his first-ever absence from the meeting of the grouping of emerging economies since taking office 12 years ago, according to a media report.Xi will not attend the Brics Summit in Rio de Janeiro, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported on Wednesday, quoting multiple sources.Instead, Chinese Premier and Xi’s confidant Li Qiang will take part in the summit to be held on July 6-7 in which PM Modi was expected to take part.According to a South China Morning Post report from Rio, speculation has circulated that Brazil’s invitation to PM Modi for a state dinner following the Brics summit may have influenced Beijing’s decision, as Xi could have been “perceived as a supporting actor” at the gathering. China, however, is learnt to have conveyed to Brazil that Xi won’t be able to attend because of scheduling issues. Diplomatic sources said Beijing is currently focused more on the SCO summit that it plans to host in late Aug or early Sept.The Brics comprise Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The bloc has been expanded with five additional members: Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. If Xi misses the summit, the next opportunity for the Xi-PM Modi meeting could be the China SCO summit if the PM attends it.