Following at least two media reports which stated that it was China which has suggested Mamallapuram as the venue of the recently concluded informal Indo-China summit, the Ministry of External Affairs has clarified that it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who chose the shore town for the two-day event. Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale, in response to a question from the media at the conclusion of the summit, said that Mamallapuram was chosen by India due to its rich heritage.
Reports had suggested that differences between PM Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, over the venue for the summit, cropped up as early as May. According to a report from The Hindu on October 10, New Delhi had initially proposed Varanasi as the venue for the summit. But it was later decided that the Lal Bahudar Shastri airport's runway was not large enough to fit Xi Jiniping's plane. On October 11, a report in the Times of India stated that it was actually China that selected Mamallapuram as the venue, and India reportedly immediately agreed to the suggestion. The TOI report has since been retracted online.
The report quoted a source privy to a meeting among China experts and said that the current vice foreign minister Lou Zhaohui picked the temple town as he used to be a student of a Chinese scholar in Auroville, and was therefore aware of the historic importance and Chinese links of Mamallapuram. The article even quoted BJP’s national secretary P Muralidhar Rao stating that the PM's increased visits to Tamil Nadu will also emphasise the state's political importance to the party.
The report created a flurry on social media, with several questioning why China would be allowed to take a call on the venue. Several questioned whether the state was chosen on purpose by China to undermine the Prime Minister's power on his own soil.