Chinese President Xi Jinping's decision to skip the G20 summit is being seen in host India as a snub to New Delhi and a new setback to the already frozen relations between the nuclear-armed Asian giants.

Neither country has commented on Xi deciding to stay away, but analysts said the decision added to existing irritants, including a military stand-off on their Himalayan border and India insisting that the rest of the relationship cannot move forward without a resolution on the frontier.

A thaw in bilateral ties seems distant, they said.

India's foreign ministry spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday on Beijing's decision to send Premier Li Qiang for the Sept. 9-10 summit instead of Xi.

Asked if Xi's decision reflects China-India tensions, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said that Beijing had supported India's hosting of the summit. China-India relations "remain stable" and Beijing is willing to work with New Delhi to better them, Mao added.

Although Indian government officials have in private sought to play down Xi's absence saying leaders skip summits for their own reasons, a senior member of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said the decision showed Beijing's discomfort with India's economic rise.

“As far as China is concerned, they often show a degree of petulance,” BJP vice president Baijayant Jay Panda said when asked about Xi's absence.

"It may be hard for them to swallow that for four decades they were the fastest growing economy and now it is India,” he said.

Relations between India and China nosedived after soldiers from both sides clashed in the western Himalayas in June 2020, resulting in the death of 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese troops.

Several rounds of military and diplomatic talks have since brought some calm on the nearly 3,000-km (1,860-mile) frontier, but the face-off continues in a few pockets.

India wants disengagement at two more disputed points and a return to positions held before the summer of 2020. Meanwhile, both militaries have amassed tens of thousands of soldiers, arms and equipment in the mountains.