Narendra Modi-Xi Jinping meeting at Mamallapuram Updates: After welcoming Xi Jinping in Mamallapuram, Narendra Modi gave him a tour of a temple complex in the shore town, which has the tag of a UNESCO World Heritage site. The complex comprises of Arjuna's Penance, Krishna's Butterball and Shore Temple. The leaders attended a cultural programme and dinner meeting at the Shore Temple later.

Soon after that External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval met Xi. Modi and Xi will soon attend a cultural programme at Shore Temple.

Narendra Modi tweets out photos of Xi Jinping's arrival in Chennai with the caption, "Welcome to India, President Xi Jinping!" in Mandarin.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived at ITC Grand Chola in Chennai and left for Mamallapuram, about 60 km from Chennai, around 4 pm from the hotel.

The Chinese president is greeted with traditional music and 'poorna kumbam'. Governor of Tamil Nadu Banwarilal Purohit, Speaker P Dhanapal and chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami welcome Xi Jinping at the airport.

Chinese president Xi Jinping arrives in Chennai ahead of 'informal' summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday reached Chennai to hold the second informal summit with Chinese president Xi Jinping, who is expected to arrive in the city later in the afternoon today. He was received at the airport by Governor Banwarilal Purohit and chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, along with other officials

Chinese president Xi Jinping will arrive in Mamallapuram on Friday to hold his second 'informal' summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the leaders are expected to reconfigure strained ties.

The meeting follows after months of squabbling between the two Asian countries over trade, border disputes and their respective diplomatic moves.

Xi's visit also comes after his meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday, when a joint statement was issued following the talks. The two nations also discussed the Kashmir issue, with China saying the situation in the Valley should be peacefully resolved based on the UN Charter.

Modi and Xi will meet in the temple town of Mamallapuram, which will be their second 'informal' summit after holding a similar meet in China's Wuhan in April 2018.

Modi-Xi itinerary

At around 2 pm, Xi will reach Chennai and then proceed to meet Modi for tea at a luxury hotel. From the capital of Tamil Nadu, Xi will then proceed to Mamallapuram.

According to The Times of India, Modi and Xi will hold four separate meetings on Friday, lasting a total of five hours.

The summit will begin at 5 pm with the leaders touring iconic monuments for an hour – Arjuna’s Penance, Panch Rathas and Shore Temple.

A cultural programme and a private dinner will be organised at the UNESCO World Heritage site of the Shore Temple. To add to the cultural exchange between India and China, a Buddha statue has been installed near the temple.

According to reports, wooden walkways have been set up for the leaders and natural grass lawns have been used for landscaping. All the monuments in Mamallapuram to be visited by Xi were spruced up while colourful gates have been erected along the routes from Chennai to this coastal city.

The leaders are expected to exchange views on charting a new roadmap of development and cooperation. Later in the day, Modi will host a private dinner for Xi at the temple complex.

This is before Xi returns to Chennai for the night. According to Moneycontrol, the two leaders will hold informal talks on 12 October at the Fisherman's Cove resort overlooking the Bay of Bengal.

Their meeting will start at 10 am on Saturday, with an informal chat for at least 40 minutes, when Modi and Xi will share their world views in private. They will again meet for lunch at the five-star hotel. Trade, terrorism, and border issues are topics that the two leaders are likely to discuss.

After lunch, the Chinese leader will leave for Chennai airport at 12.45 pm.

An unprecedented security blanket has been thrown over and around Mamallapuram, which has inconvenienced people in the town as well as tourists. Movement has been restricted at the monuments till the completion of the VVIP visit. Tourists can admire the monuments only from outside.

Xi is expected to leave Saturday, as Nepalese media has said he will visit Kathmandu this weekend on his way back from India, AFP reported.

Agenda

According to reports, the two sides are likely to discuss issues relating to Ladakh, China's 5G network policy, counter-terrorism and sustainable marine economy.

Beijing criticised New Delhi's decision to revoke the autonomous status in Kashmir. It singled out India's decision to create a separate administrative territory in Ladakh, a Buddhist-dominated part of Kashmir, as part of the change.

Earlier, reports had suggested that trade ties and stability at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) could be the focus areas of the informal meet.

No Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs), agreements will be signed nor any joint communiqué issued.

Government sources had earlier told ANI that the structure of informal meeting between the two leaders would be similar to the first informal summit between the two leaders in Wuhan.

The objective of this meeting is likely to be the exchange of views on regional and global issues, finding a broad pathway on bilateral relations, and discussing ways to build better connections between the two countries.

Issues pertaining to trade increased market access for products like soybean and non-basmati rice, as well as terrorism, sourcing, financing, and origins of terror are expected to come up during the talks.

With inputs from agencies