In a significant development, India and China have decided to restart the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, which was halted in 2020 due to border tensions. This decision was made during a special representative meeting between the two countries.
During a meeting between Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Vice Chinese Foreign Minister Sun Weidong, both New Delhi and Beijing also agreed in principle to reintroduce direct flights between the two nations. Misri's two-day visit to Beijing on January 26–27, 2025, was aimed at reviewing the bilateral relations between India and China.
"The two sides have agreed to resume the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra in the summer of 2025. The relevant authorities will discuss the necessary modalities as per existing agreements," stated a press release from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
Along with the resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, India and China have also agreed to enhance cooperation on cross-border rivers, revive the provision of hydrological data, and promote people-to-people exchanges.
"Both sides have decided to take steps to further facilitate people-to-people interactions, including engagements between media and think tanks. They have also agreed in principle to restart direct air services between the two countries, with technical authorities set to negotiate an updated framework soon. Additionally, an early meeting of the India-China Expert Level Mechanism will be held to discuss the resumption of hydrological data sharing and other collaborations related to trans-border rivers," the statement further elaborated.
The MEA emphasized that the revival of this bilateral mechanism stems from the consensus at the leadership level to explore the future of India-China relations across political, economic, and people-to-people dimensions.
This meeting followed the bilateral discussions between Prime Minister Modi and President Xi Jinping during the BRICS summit in Kazan in October 2024. Both sides agreed on various measures to uphold peace along the border and reinforce diplomatic and military negotiation channels.
