Modi has used G20 Summit to "burnish his credentials as a statesman", but no 'joint statement' will be an embarrassment: AFP

PM Narendra Modi — "sensing an opportunity to burnish his credentials as a statesman ahead of a re-election tilt early next year — has thrust himself front and centre of proceedings," says an AFP report vis-a-vis G20 and Chinese President Xi Jinping skipping the event.

"His image adorns countless G20 billboards and posters plastered around Delhi.
A failure of G20 leaders to agree on a joint summit statement, a usually routine diplomatic affair, could be seen as an embarrassment for India and for Modi’s claim of uniting developing and richer members."

The headline of the piece as used in 'Dawn' in Pakistan is also a telling statement - G20 gathers in India with China’s President Xi absent 

The article says Chinese President Xi Jinping’s "no-show" in Delhi almost calls the bloc’s (G20's) relevance into question.  

The G20 was conceived in the throes of the 2008 financial crisis as a way of managing the global economy. However, finding consensus among members has been increasingly difficult in recent years, the story says.

"Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has painted the summit as his country’s diplomatic coming of age — evidence of New Delhi’s clout and prestige on the global stage," the report states. 

No official reason was given for the absence, but Xi has chastised Modi about a deadly China-India border dispute and been open about making US-led groupings like the G20 more amenable to Beijing’s interests.

As the summit takes place, Xi will host the leaders of Venezuela and Zambia in Beijing.

Modi — sensing an opportunity to burnish his credentials as a statesman ahead of a re-election tilt early next year — has thrust himself front and centre of proceedings.

His image adorns countless G20 billboards and posters plastered around Delhi.

A failure of G20 leaders to agree on a joint summit statement, a usually routine diplomatic affair, could be seen as an embarrassment for India and for Modi’s claim of uniting developing and richer members.

Modi looks set to secure at least one concrete step in that direction — with several leaders expressing support for expanding the bloc into the “G21” and including the African Union as a permanent member.

But elsewhere, Ukraine appears to be a key sticking point, and who pays for efforts to heal the world’s rapidly heating climate.

“Have a little bit of patience,” senior Indian diplomat Amitabh Kant said today, insisting that a text would be put to leaders for them to decide.

Diplomatic opprobrium and war crimes charges are also keeping Russian leader Vladimir Putin away from the summit, although Moscow continues to press allies to water down international condemnation of its invasion of Ukraine.

“Once again, Vladimir Putin is failing to show his face at the G20,” said British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

On the vital question: 'Why is Xi Jinping missing the G20?' ..... 'The Guardian' article highlights some more complexities:

"Ja Ian Chong, a political scientist at the National University of Singapore, said it wasn’t clear what Li was empowered to do. “What decisions can he make in terms of the communiqué, or any deliverables that might be possible on the sidelines?” Chong said. “What can he promise that other entities can hold Beijing to?”

Xi’s non-attendance of the G20 hasn’t been explained by the Chinese government and is unlikely to be. It comes just weeks after Xi missed giving a speech at the Brics summit in South Africa, prompting questions about his health.

It also comes amid multiple spats and tensions between Beijing and other governments, including the US, Japan, G20’s host country, India, and regional neighbours that have territorial disputes with China.

By avoiding the G20, some analysts suggested, Xi could be trying to sidestep uncomfortable conversations.

Beijing is under increasing pressure over its close relationship with Russia and refusal to condemn Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. 

Some analysts have suggested Xi may be avoiding G20 in part in solidarity with Putin, who is subject to an international criminal court warrant for war crimes and is also not attending.