NEW DELHI, April 16 – Indian and Chinese officials are intensifying efforts to finalize an agreement on resuming the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, the annual pilgrimage suspended since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent border tensions, Indian government sources said on Tuesday.
With the deadline for selecting this year’s pilgrims approaching next month, both sides are said to be narrowing gaps on logistical and infrastructural issues required for the Yatra, which takes Indian pilgrims to the sacred Mount Kailash and Mansarovar Lake in Tibet.
“We are hopeful of a breakthrough shortly,” one official familiar with the talks told Reuters, adding that the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has scheduled a coordination meeting of all stakeholder agencies for April 21.
The pilgrimage, which usually takes place from June to September, has traditionally involved travel through the Lipulekh Pass in Uttarakhand or the Nathu La Pass in Sikkim. It was halted following China’s withdrawal of support in 2020 amid pandemic restrictions and a sharp deterioration in bilateral ties after deadly clashes in the Galwan Valley that year.
Preparations are already underway on the Indian side, with arrangements to reduce the trek distance between Dharchula and Lipulekh by providing special transport, according to an official with the Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam (KMVN), a key logistical partner. Costs are expected to rise significantly compared to 2019, due to revised rates for accommodation and transport on both sides of the border.
The proposed resumption was discussed by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during a G20 meeting in Brazil earlier this year, building on the conversation between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping at the Kazan summit in 2024.
In a rare move, the matter was also taken up at the 33rd meeting of the India-China Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on border affairs in March, underscoring the political will to restart the Yatra. “The two sides exchanged views on early resumption of cross-border cooperation and exchanges, including on trans-border rivers and the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra,” the joint statement from that meeting said.
The pilgrimage is jointly organized by India’s Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, and the governments of Uttarakhand, Sikkim, and Delhi. In December, Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh told Parliament that India would continue to raise the issue with Chinese authorities to ensure the Yatra’s resumption.
