In a big move, India and China have agreed to resume the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, stopped since 2020, following years of border tensions, during a special representative meeting between the two sides.
New Delhi and Beijing also agreed in principle the resumption of direct flights between the two nations during a meeting between between Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.Misri is on a two-day visit to Beijing on January 26–27, 2025, for a meeting with Vice Foreign Minister of China to review India-China bilateral relations.
“The two sides decided to resume the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra in the summer of 2025; the relevant mechanism will discuss the modalities for doing so as per existing agreements,” a MEA press release said.
“They agreed in principle to resume direct air services between the two countries; the relevant technical authorities on the two sides will meet and negotiate an updated framework for this purpose at an early date,” it added.Along with Kailash Mansarovar Yatra resumption, the two sides have also agreed to promote and facilitate people-to-people changes, promote cross-border river cooperation, and resumption of provision of hydrological data.
“The two sides agreed to take appropriate measures to further promote and facilitate people-to-people exchanges, including media and think-tank interactions. They also agreed to hold an early meeting of the India-China Expert Level Mechanism to discuss resumption of provision of hydrological data and other cooperation pertaining to trans-border rivers,” the statement read.
“The two sides recognise that 2025, being the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and China, should be utilised to redouble public diplomacy efforts to create better awareness about each other and restore mutual trust and confidence among the public. The two sides will conduct a number of commemorative activities to mark this anniversary,” the statement by the MEA further said.
The MEA said that the resumption of this bilateral mechanism flows from the agreement at the leadership level to discuss the next steps for India-China relations, including in the political, economic, and people-to-people domains.The meeting followed the bilateral meetup between Prime Minister Modi and President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the BRICS summit held in Kazan in October 2024.
During the meeting, both sides agreed on measures to maintain peace and tranquility along the border, and strengthen mechanisms for diplomatic and military negotiations.
Last year, India had announced that it had reached an agreement with China on patrolling along the LAC in eastern Ladakh. The agreement is anticipated to ease patrolling in the Depsang and Demchok areas, where major issues remained unresolved.
EAM Jaishankar had said that Indian and Chinese soldiers will resume patrolling as they did before the 2020 border face-off.Misri had said that the agreement between the two countries was finalised after several weeks of negotiations and would help resolve the issues that arose in 2020.
Ties between the two Asian giants nosedived following a fierce clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020, marking the most serious military conflict between them in decades.
