Chinese President Xi Jinping skips BRICS gala dinner hosted by PM Modi

Chinese President Xi Jinping skipped a gala dinner hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday for leaders of the BRICS nations and other partner countries attending the summit in New Delhi.

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 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.

Why did Xi Jinping skip the BRICS gala dinner?

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.

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. 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.

Who attended BRICS gala dinner

While Xi gave the gala dinner a miss, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other BRICS leaders attended. 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.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, chief ministers such as Uttar Pradesh's Yogi Adityanath, Maharashtra's Devendra Fadnavis, West Bengal’s Suvendu Adhikari, and Assam’s Himanta Biswa Sarma also attended the dinner.

The Union ministers and chief ministers travelled in two buses from the Parliament House to the dinner venue at Bharat Mandapam.

What was on gala dinner menu

The menu of the gala dinner included khandvi mille-feuille, khumb galouti, paneer lababdar, gucchi marmik, carrot-bean poriyal and millet pulao.

The dessert menu included Old Delhi fruit cream with jalebi and shahtoot phirni.

India is hosting the BRICS Summit on September 12-13, and it is being attended by the leaders of the 11 member countries and 10 partner countries, besides some international organisations.