NEW DELHI: G20 leaders descended on New Delhi on Friday, with deep divisions between heavyweight members and Chinese President Xi Jinping's no-show calling the bloc's relevance into question.
The G20 was conceived in the throes of the 2008 financial crisis as a way of managing the global economy.
But finding consensus among members has been increasingly difficult in recent years.
With several leaders already in New Delhi -- spruced up and partly emptied of people for the occasion -- hosts India were scrambling for agreement on pressing issues like the Ukraine war, climate and global governance.
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.
But that notion was called into question by rival leader Xi, who pointedly decided to skip the meeting and send his number two, Premier Li Qiang instead.
No official reason has been 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. — AFP
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