Modi 'forgets' to wish China's Xi on his birthday

The Indian prime minister has wished the Chinese president without fail since 2016

 

Amid rising tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi abstained from wishing Chinese President Xi Jinping on his birthday on June 15.

The world leaders have exchanged birthday greetings for the last four years.

Ever since 2016, Modi has wished Jinping on his birthday. The first time he wished the Chinese strongman was on the Chinese social media platform Weibo.

The greeting came despite ongoing tensions between India and China after the latter opposed India's entry to Nuclear Supplier's Group, a week of the plenary meeting in Seoul.

'India capitulated to China in Ladakh'

Modi also greeted Xi amid ongoing bilateral tension with Beijing in 2017, a day before the 73-day standoff between India and China in Doklam over the construction of a road by the Chinese.



The greetings got a personal touch in 2019 when Modi met Jinping in Bishkek on his birthday and wished him in person.

The incident took place on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Kyrgyzstan.

This year, however, Modi skipped the Weibo greetings, even as tensions continued to mount.

The 'snub' is surprising as in the past years, India has worked to improve its relations with China, despite bilateral tensions on certain issues. Be it the "informal meetings" between the two heads of states, first in Wuhan and then in Chennai last year, Indo-China relations were seemingly improving