Tamil Nadu capital Chennai and the ancient port city of Mamallapuram will come alive on Friday with the sounds of traditional music from across the country and wear a festive look to roll out a red carpet welcome to Chinese President, Xi Jinping.
The special aircraft carrying Xi, who is visiting India to participate in the second India-China informal summit, will touch down at Chennai Airport around 2.10 pm on Friday and the Chinese President will be welcomed by Tamil Nadu Governor, Banwarilal Purohit and Chief Minister, Edappadi K Palaniswami.
Prime Minister, Narendra Modi would arrive at around 12.30 pm and will take a chopper to reach Taj Fisherman’s Cove, a luxurious resort in Kovalam which is the venue of the informal summit. 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 keeping 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.
The Chinese President will be accorded a ceremonial welcome in quintessential Tamil style with performances of various dance forms and folk arts that originated from Tamil Nadu for about 20 minutes at the airport. He would then drive to ITC Grand Chola, the luxurious five star super deluxe hotel, for lunch.
Along the 5 km stretch from the airport to the hotel, more than 6,000 students from different colleges will perform traditional dances and folk arts that would allow the Chinese President to get a glimpse of India’s rich cultural, music and dance traditions.
In Mamallapuram, the two leaders will visit Arjuna’s Penance, Five Rathas and Shore Temple, part of the Group of Monuments declared as World Heritage Sites, besides witnessing a cultural programme to be presented by artists from Kalakshetra Foundation.
Also read — Modi-Xi meet: A stroll and visit to monuments
Modi will host a private dinner to Xi at the historic Shore Temple overlooking the magnificent Bay of Bengal on Friday night, while the leaders will hold extensive talks, both one-on-one and at delegation level, on Saturday.
From the traditional Bharatanatyam to Nagaswaram to the folk art of Mayilattam, Thapattam and Karakattam to the Nashik dhol to Kerala’s very own Sendai melam. India’s cultural prowess will be at rich display as artists would perform the dance and folk arts.
During his nearly one hour road journey from Chennai to Mamallapuram to meet PM on Friday, Xi will receive welcome at 35 locations across the 50 km route via the IT Corridor that houses some of the biggest software firms in the world.
Besides professionals, the government has roped in students from the state owned music colleges and fine arts colleges to perform at various vantage points in the city.
“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,” the Ministry of External Affairs had said on Wednesday while announcing the visit.
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