After 5 years, India to resume tourist visas for Chinese nationals

The government will resume issuing tourist visas to Chinese citizens from July 24, marking the end of five-year suspension.

In 2020, India had suspended all tourist visas to contain the spread of Covid. This was followed by the military stand-off in Eastern Ladakh in April that year and the visas remained suspended.

The Indian Embassy in Beijing said Chinese citizens could now apply for a tourist visa to India after completing an online application, scheduling an appointment and personally submitting their passport and other required documents to the Indian Visa Application Centers in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, in South China’s Guangdong province.

“Please be informed that all passport withdrawal requests for applications submitted in India Visa Application Centre in Beijing must be accompanied by a passport withdrawal letter,” the statement added.

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs reacted, saying, “This is a positive move. Easing cross-border travel is widely beneficial. China will maintain communication and consultation with India to further facilitate travel between the two countries.”

While Beijing had resumed issuing visas to Indian students and businessmen, general travel remained restricted. India has now allowed tourist visas.

Bilateral relations between the two countries had plunged to their lowest point in six decades after the Galwan Valley clash in June 2020. A series of diplomatic and military talks followed, after which the two sides withdrew troops from several friction points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.

In October last year, the two sides announced a disengagement pact for Depsang and Demchok, the last two friction points in eastern Ladakh. Days later, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks in Kazan, Russia and tasked the special representatives of both countries to resolve the pending boundary issues.