In a significant development, India and China have agreed to resume the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra in summer 2025, signaling efforts to rebuild ties between the two nations. This decision was announced after Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri’s visit to Beijing on January 26 and 27 for talks with Chinese officials under the mechanism between the Foreign Secretary and the Deputy Foreign Minister.
The meeting, which emerged from the interaction between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping in October last year, focused on stabilizing and strengthening relations between India and China.
“Foreign Secretary Shri. Vikram Misri visited Beijing on January 26 and 27 for a meeting of the India-China Foreign Secretary and Deputy Foreign Minister mechanism on January 27. As agreed between the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping at their meeting in Kazan in October, the two sides comprehensively reviewed the status of bilateral relations between India and China and agreed to take certain people-centric measures to stabilize and rebuild ties,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press release.
Later, announcing the decision to resume the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, he added: “In this context, the two sides have decided to resume the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra in summer 2025; the relevant mechanism will discuss the modalities to do so as per the existing agreements. It also agreed hold an early meeting of the India-China Expert Level Mechanism to discuss resumption of hydrological data provision and other cooperation related to transboundary rivers.”
Key takeaways from the meeting
MEA announced that as both nations had agreed to resume the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra in summer 2025, the modalities of this holy pilgrimage will be finalized through existing mechanisms.
Additionally, the two sides decided to convene an early meeting of the India-China Expert Level Mechanism to discuss resumption of hydrological data sharing and enhancing cooperation on transboundary rivers.
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Steps to strengthen exchanges between peoples
India and China emphasized the importance of fostering people-to-people connections. Key measures include:
- Resumption of direct air services between both countries. Technical teams from both sides will meet to finalize an updated framework.
- Improve interactions between media and think tanks to promote mutual understanding.
Both nations intend to take advantage of the year 2025, which marks the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations, to carry out commemorative activities and strengthen public diplomacy efforts, according to the MEA.
Economic and commercial dialogue
During the discussions, the two sides reviewed existing functional mechanisms and agreed to progressively resume bilateral dialogues to address each other’s key concerns. Economic and trade issues were a priority, with both sides focused on resolving specific challenges to ensure policy predictability and transparency. “The two sides took stock of the existing mechanisms for functional exchanges. It was agreed to resume these dialogues step by step and use them to address priority areas of interest and concern of each other. Specific concerns in the economic and trade areas were discussed with with a view to resolving these issues and promoting long-term policy transparency and predictability,” the MEA said.
High level meetings
Foreign Secretary Misri held talks with senior Chinese officials, including HE Wang Yi, foreign minister and politburo member of the Communist Party of China and HE Liu Jianchao, minister of the international department of the Communist Party of China.
