Narendra Modi Xi Jinping Meet: From Ahmedabad to Mahabalipuram, India’s diversity gets global stage

Mamallapuram is all set to host both the world leaders and its ties to ancient China make the venue much more appealing.

The historic coastal town of Mahabalipuram in Tamil Nadu will invite global attention as Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomes Chinese President Xi Jinping at the UNESCO world heritage site for the second informal bilateral on October 11-12.

Students wearing masks of China's President Xi Jinping sit in a formation that reads "Xi Jinping" in Chinese, ahead of the informal summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at a school in Chennai. (REUTERS)

This won’t be the first occasion for a foreign leader to be hosted outside the national capital of India, which used to be the norm in the not-so-distant past.

Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe and his wife were hosted in Ahmedabad in October 2018, where they visited the Sabarmati Ashram and Sidi Sayyed Mosque. Even the Chinese President on his last visit was welcomed in Ahmedabad, where he visited the Sabarmati riverfront along with Prime Minister Modi.

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French President Emmanuel Macron got a taste of Varanasi and Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh on his four-day visit apart from spending time with students in capital Delhi while German Chancellor Angela Merkel was hosted in Bengaluru’s Bosch Research Centre on her 2015 trip marked by signing of deals worth 2.25 billion dollars. Israeli Premier Bejamin Netanyahu was hosted in Ahmedabad where Prime Minister Modi taught him kite flying after an eight- km roadshow from the Airport to Sabarmati Ashram.

Similarly, during his India visit, German President Frank Walter visited Varanasi, Sarnath and Chennai while Canadian Premier Justin Trudeau visited the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Sabarmati Ashram in Gujarat and Mumbai.

The First Lady of South Korea got a chance to witness the Diwali celebrations in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya, reigniting the centuries-old connect between the two countries and the Prime Minister of Mauritius was welcomed in Varanasi for the Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas programme.