Chinese president Xi Jinping’s attendance at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Samarkand on September 15-16 remains uncertain due to strict Chinese Covid-19 testing and quarantine measures, news agency Hindustan Times reported.
This also means that there are very slim chances of an in-person meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Chinese counterpart on the sidelines of the SCO summit.
India will also take over the presidency of the SCO from Uzbekistan this year.
If Xi Jinping attends the SCO Summit virtually then some senior Chinese leader could attend the summit physically on his behalf.
The move comes after it was found that a legislator from Hong Kong, who was part of a group photo with Xi Jinping, tested positive for Covid-19.
Xi travelled to Hong Kong when the region celebrated its 25th ceremony of handover from the British to the Chinese government on July 1, marking his first trip outside mainland China since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
He spent less than 24 hours in Hong Kong and Macau but people who were expected to remain close to him as well as those who were participants in programmes which Xi would attend, lived under hard Covid regulations prior to Xi’s arrival.
The report by Hindustan Times said that unless the SCO makes an exception for Xi Jinping and makes it mandatory for all the attending heads of states like PM Modi, Russian president Vladimir Putin and leaders of Central Asian nations to undergo the rigorous testing schedule, the chances of Xi attending the summit in person remains slim.
Xi will not only be unable to meet PM Modi, but he will be unable to meet any leader attending the summit.
Officials attending the summit will have to undergo strict quarantine procedures before the summit kicks off.
The Hindustan Times report, citing people familiar with the developments said, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi will attend the SCO Foreign Ministerial on July 28-29 in Samarkand and may have a meeting with Union minister of external affairs S Jaishankar.
Indonesia president Joko Widodo who is currently in China also will undergo two tests before meeting Xi Jinping. Widodo will be the first leader Xi will host, aside from those hosted during the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022, but the meeting is guaranteed only after Widodo tests negative for the Covid test he took in Beijing.
(with inputs from Hindustan Times)
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