CHECKMATING XI, THE G20 DELHI WAY

The inclusion of the 55-member African Union has been rightly hailed as a positive step towards involving the African nations into the international system more intimately. But this is also a step towards freeing China's suffocating grip on the United Nations and other international institutions.

- VIJAY KRANTI

The decision of Chinese President Xi Jinping not to attend the G20 Summit in New Delhi resulted in much speculation. Some believe it was his way of snubbing India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Others believe that it was beyond his tolerance level to see PM Modi in the international limelight. Some more China watchers think that the absence reflected Xi's sense of insecurity and uneasiness due to internal troubles in Chinese Communist Party and the People's Liberation Army. But now that the Summit is over, it is time to see what impact the G20 may have on the world's relations with China.

One thing which no China watcher can afford to ignore is the more than visible China-centricity of the Summit's deliberations and decisions. Many decisions taken at the New Delhi Summit were focused at challenging the arrogance, aggression and authoritarian conduct of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and its "Paramount Leader" Xi Jinping, who is visualising his PRC as the "Middle Kingdom" and himself as the "Divine Power" assigned by the heavens to rule the earth.