India-China: Kailash Mansarovar Yatra to be held between June–August

The exterior affairs ministry mentioned this 12 months’s pilgrimage will probably be held by means of Lipulekh Cross in Uttarakhand and Nathu La in Sikkim. The pilgrimage to Mount Kailash and Mansarovar Lake in Tibet Autonomous Area had been suspended since 2020, initially due to the Covid-19 pandemic after which the protracted face-off on the LAC.

“Kailash Manasarovar Yatra organised by the Ministry of Exterior Affairs is about to happen throughout June to August 2025,” the ministry mentioned in an announcement.

5 batches, every comprising 50 pilgrims, will journey by way of Lipulekh Cross, and 10 batches, additionally consisting of fifty pilgrims every, will cross by means of Nathu La, the ministry mentioned. Purposes will probably be accepted on the kmy.gov.in web site and pilgrims will probably be chosen by means of a good, random, computer-generated and gender-balanced course of.

Additionally Learn:India, China near understanding on Kailash Mansarovar Yatra

HT first reported on April 16 that India and China had been near an understanding on resuming the pilgrimage as a part of the method of normalising ties after the greater than four-year standoff on the LAC.

The exterior affairs ministry mentioned all the course of for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, from on-line functions to the collection of pilgrims, has been totally computerised since 2015.

“Due to this fact, candidates don’t have to ship letters or fax to hunt info. The suggestions choices on the web site can be utilized for acquiring info, registering observations or making strategies for enchancment,” the ministry mentioned.

The resumption of the pilgrimage and direct flights, which too had been suspended in 2020, had been amongst confidence-building measures mentioned by the 2 sides since they reached an understanding on disengagement of troops final October.

Two days after the understanding on disengagement of forces, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping met within the Russian metropolis of Kazan and determined to revive a number of mechanisms to deal with the border dispute and to normalise relations. The resumption of the pilgrimage was one of many main asks of the Indian aspect.

In January, overseas secretary Vikram Misri visited Beijing for talks along with his Chinese language counterpart Solar Weidong. The 2 sides determined at this assembly to renew the Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra and to take different people-centric steps to “stabilise and rebuild” ties.

The Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra is organised by the exterior affairs ministry, often between June and September. The location in Tibet is of spiritual significance to Hindus, Jains and Buddhists, and pilgrims trek at altitudes of as much as 19,500 ft in excessive climate and rugged terrain.

The resumption of the pilgrimage marks one other step within the sluggish normalising of bilateral relations following the standoff on the LAC, which started with skirmishes in April-Might 2020. A subsequent conflict at Galwan Valley in June 2020, which resulted within the loss of life of 20 Indian troopers and at the very least 4 Chinese language troops, took ties to their lowest level for the reason that 1962 border struggle.

The Chinese language aspect has been pushing India to behave a number of measures aimed toward enhancing financial ties, together with resumption of direct flights and easing of visa restrictions on Chinese language nationals. The Chinese language aspect can also be eager on reviving the follow of each international locations posting extra journalists in one another’s capitals. At the moment, there’s one Indian journalist in Beijing and no Chinese language journalist in New Delhi.

Exterior affairs minister S Jaishankar not too long ago mentioned that India-China relations are transferring in a “optimistic route” although “there’s work to be carried out” to normalise ties.