Reportedly the coastal town of Mamallapuram (aka Mahabalipuram) has pipped the sacred city of varanasi to host the historic informal summit between Prime Minister narendra modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping next week, thanks to the Chinese connection the port town has. Meanwhile the historical buddhism connection is being capitalized well with statutes of Buddha seen at various vantage points in Mamallapuram, which is getting a major face lift with hundreds of workers toiling round the clock to ensure that the town is ready for the historic meeting between October 11 and 13.
Presently a helipad is also getting ready and modi is likely to fly from Chennai to Mamallapuram while Xi is expected to take the road route from the city. Meanwhile State officials are gung-ho about the meeting, the local shopkeepers are cursing as they are set to lose five days of business.
Furthermore there is no official communication as to when the tourists will be stopped from visiting the town. Moreover all the restaurants and shops in the town have been told to close three days before the meeting, with a multi-level security to be in place. Perhaps tourists, mostly foreigners, have been asked to vacate the town and the policemen are also taking details of foreign tourists visiting the town.
