India and China have decided to resume the much-awaited Kailash Mansarovar Yatra in the summer of 2025 among various other measures to rebuild ties between the nations.
Foreign Secretary Shri. Vikram Misri in a meeting of the Foreign Secretary-Vice Foreign Minister between India and China on 27 January in China reviewed the India-China bilateral relations and agreed to take certain people-centric steps to stabilize and rebuild ties.
One of the remarkable decisions taken in the meeting was to resume the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra in the summer of 2025 as per existing agreements. The annual yatra has been stopped since 2020 following the COVID-19 outbreak and the subsequent non-renewal of Yatra arrangements by the Chinese side.
Both sides would also be encouraging people-to-people exchanges, including media and think-tank interactions among the nations. The direct air services between the two countries will also be resumed to nurture exchanges.
Both sides assessed the current frameworks for functional exchanges and agreed to systematically tackle each other’s key areas of interest and concern. MEA noted, “Specific concerns in the economic and trade areas were discussed with a view to resolving these issues and promoting long-term policy transparency and predictability.”
An early meeting of the India-China Expert Level Mechanism will soon be held to discuss the Recommencement of hydrological data provision and other cooperation pertaining to trans-border rivers.
Regarding the diplomatic relations between India and China, the statement by the Minister of External Affairs (MEA) read, “The two sides recognize that 2025, being the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and China, should be utilized to redouble public diplomacy efforts to create better awareness about each other and restore mutual trust and confidence among the public.”