India, China resolve to resume Mansarovar yatra, direct flights

India and China, in their ongoing efforts to iron out differences, today announced the resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra from this summer and restart of the direct flights that were suspended during Covid-19.

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Need Mutual support, not mutual suspicion

China and India should commit themselves to mutual understanding, support and achievement, rather than mutual suspicion, alienation and mutual depletion. Xu Feihong, Chinese ambassador to India (quoting Wang Yi).

The announcement came after Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri met Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong in Beijing. “They reviewed the India-China bilateral relations and agreed to take people-centric steps to stabilise and rebuild ties. The relevant mechanism will discuss modalities for doing so as per existing agreements,” said the Ministry of External Affairs while sharing details on Misri’s two-day visit to China that concluded on Monday.

Until 2020, the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra was organised annually between June and September through the two official routes of Lipulekh Pass (since 1981) in Uttarakhand and Nathu La (since 2015) in Sikkim.

The two sides also agreed to hold an early meeting of the “India-China Expert Level Mechanism” to discuss sharing of hydrological data and cooperation on trans-border rivers. The Brahmaputra, Indus and the Sutlej originate in Tibet and flow through India. The development comes amid India’s concerns about a dam — Beijing claims it to be the world’s biggest — being built by China upstream on the Brahmaputra. Soon after his arrival in Beijing on Sunday, Misri met Liu Jianchao, the head of the influential International Department of the ruling Communist Party, which traditionally sets the tone for China’s foreign policy.

Earlier in the day, Misri called on Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. “China and India should seize the opportunity to meet each other halfway. Both should explore more substantive measures and commit themselves to mutual understanding, mutual support and mutual achievement, rather than mutual suspicion, alienation and mutual depletion,” Chinese Ambassador to India Xu Feihong posted on X quoting Wang.

The relations between India and China had soured after a military clash along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in 2020. Following the four-year standoff, the two sides reached an understanding in October 2024 for reducing tensions and rebuilding faith.

The relations improved over the past four months after several high-level meetings, including the one between PM Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Russia in October.