G20 gathers in India, without China's XiG20 leaders descended on New Delhi, with host Prime Minister Narendra Modi seizing a chance to occupy the geopolitical centre stage. (Photo: AFP)NEW DELHI - US President Joe Biden and other G20 leaders gathered in New Delhi on Friday for their annual summit, as deep divisions between heavyweight members and a no-show by China's Xi Jinping called the bloc's relevance into question. Even before it began, the importance of the G20 summit was undermined when China's Xi decided to skip the meeting and send his number two, Premier Li Qiang instead. But a failure of G20 leaders to agree a joint summit statement, a once routine diplomatic affair, would be a major embarrassment. Many G20 leaders fear their economies are already at risk of becoming collateral damage as the big beasts of world trade lock horns.
