India and China are close to an understanding on resuming the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra as the two sides continue the protracted process of normalising their relations after the more than four-year standoff on the Line of Actual Control (LAC), people familiar with the matter said.
The resumption of the pilgrimage to Mount Kailash and Mansarovar Lake in China’s Tibet Autonomous Region, which has not been held since 2020, is among confidence-building measures being discussed by the two sides after they reached an understanding last October on disengagement of troops at the two remaining friction points of Demchok and Depsang.
Two days after the understanding on disengagement of forces, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping met in the Russian city of Kazan and decided to revive several mechanisms to address the border dispute and to normalise ties. One of these mechanisms – the Special Representatives on the border issue – focused on the resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage, data sharing on trans-border rivers and border trade at a meeting in Beijing last December.
Following talks through other mechanisms since then, the two sides are now close to an understanding on resuming the pilgrimage, people on both sides familiar with the deliberations said on condition of anonymity. The restarting of the pilgrimage, which was put off in 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic and was subsequently affected by the face-off on the LAC, was one of the major asks of the Indian side.
The people, however, said this year’s pilgrimage may start a little later than usual and continue later than the normal schedule. The Chinese side has sought time to refurbish facilities for the pilgrims as they remained unused for almost five years, the people said. An announcement about the resumption of the pilgrimage is also expected soon, they said.
There was no word from Indian officials on the development.
The Kailash Mansarovar Yatra is organised by the external affairs ministry between June and September via two routes , Lipulekh Pass in Uttarakhand and Nathu La in Sikkim. The site in Tibet is of religious significant to Hindus, Jains and Buddhists, and pilgrims have to trek at altitudes of up to 19,500 feet in extreme weather and rugged terrain.
If the pilgrimage goes ahead, it will mark another step in the slow process of normalising bilateral relations following the standoff on the LAC, which began with skirmishes in April-May 2020. A subsequent clash at Galwan Valley in June 2020, which resulted in the death of 20 Indian soldiers and at least four Chinese troops, took ties to their lowest point since the 1962 border war.
The Chinese side has pushed India to act on a range of measures aimed at enhancing economic activities, including the resumption of direct flights and easing of visa restrictions on Chinese nationals, the people said. The Chinese side is also keen on reviving the practice of both countries allowing the posting of more journalists in each other’s capitals, they said.
There is currently only one Indian journalist in Beijing and no representatives of China’s state-run media in New Delhi.
At an event organised earlier this month by the Chinese embassy to mark the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations, Chinese ambassador Xu Feihong said the two countries “should properly handle differences through dialogue and never allow bilateral relations to be defined by the boundary question”.
Foreign secretary Vikram Misri, while addressing the same event, said peace and tranquillity in the border areas is “critical for the smooth development of our overall bilateral relations”. Misri also made it clear the two sides have resolved several issues in the border areas and are working on a roadmap to put bilateral ties on a “stable, predictable and amicable path”.
External affairs minister S Jaishankar too said last week that India-China relations are moving in a “positive direction” though “there is work to be done” to normalise ties.