PM lands in Chennai for India-China informal summit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived here on Friday morning to attend the second India-China informal summit in the coastal city of Mamallapuram. PM Modi arrived in a special aircraft and was welcomed at the airport by the entire Tamil Nadu cabinet led by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam.

Governor Banwarilal Purohit also welcomed the Prime Minister before he took a chopper to reach Kovalam. The Prime Minister’s chopper will land at Thiruvidanthai, where a helipad was set up for the 2018 Defence Expo, and take the road to reach Taj Fisherman’s Cove, a luxurious five-star seafront resort in Kovalam.

Follow live updates of PM Modi-Xi Jinping's informal summit here.

After a few hours of rest, Modi will head to Mamallapuram, 20 kms from Kovalam, to welcome his guest - Chinese President Xi Jinping. The Prime Minister will welcome the Chinese President at Arjuna’s Penance and both will visit Five Rathas and Krishna’s Butterball before taking a stroll at the magnificent Shore Temple believed to have built during 8th century.

Xi will arrive in Chennai a little after 2 pm on Friday.

After the walk, the two leaders will be enthralled by a 30-minute presentation of cultural programme by artists from the prestigious Kalakshetra Foundation. The Prime Minister will then host a private dinner for Xi at the Shore Temple overlooking the Bay of Bengal.

Also read — Shore temple to be illuminated for Modi-Xi summit

On Saturday, the two leaders will meet for tea one-on-one and then for delegation level talks before breaking for lunch. Both Xi and Modi will leave Chennai on Saturday afternoon.

The Ministry of External Affairs sad the forthcoming Chennai Informal Summit will provide an opportunity for the two leaders to continue their discussions on overarching issues of bilateral, regional and global importance and to exchange views on deepening India-China Closer Development Partnership.

This is not the first time Modi is hosting a visiting foreign leader outside New Delhi – he had hosted Xi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Ahmedabad and French President Emmanuel Macron in Varanasi.

Also read — Modi-Xi meet: A stroll and visit to monuments

Parts of Chennai, entire Mamallapuram town, the scenic East Coast Road and the IT Corridor have been brought under tight security with thousands of policemen keep a vigil round-the-clock.

Chennai’s airspace will be closed during the movement of VVIP flights and no commercial aircraft would be allowed to fly over Mamallapuram till the visit ends.