NEW DELHI, Apr 16: With the deadline for listing the pilgrims for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra approaching, Indian and Chinese officials are speeding up efforts to reach an agreement on restarting the annual pilgrimage, which has remained suspended since 2019.
Sources said the two sides have discussed the resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar in detail in the last few weeks, and expect a breakthrough “shortly.” According to officials, talks have been narrowing the gaps in outstanding issues, including checking infrastructure on both sides, and reviving logistical systems for a smooth process of travel.
According to the sources, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has convened a meeting of all the involved agencies on April 21. An official in the Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam also confirmed that preparatory work was underway, and would be completed in time for the Yatra. The official added that arrangements were being made to take the pilgrims by special transport from Dharchula to Lipulekh pass, saving them a trek of about 80-100 kilometres, which would have taken a few days otherwise.
The Mansarovar Yatra used to be held between June and September each year until China withdrew facilities for Indians to visit during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Yatra remained suspended due to tensions following the Galwan killings in 2020.
In previous years, Indian authorities would set up a computerised lottery system in the first week of May to choose the pilgrims, and officials said they were keen to complete the agreement to resume the Mansarovar Yatra at the earliest, so as not to risk delaying the process or curtailing the season for making the journey.
The Kailash Mansarovar Yatra is organised by the Ministry of External Affairs; the Ministry of Home Affairs; the Indo Tibetan Border Police; the Delhi, Sikkim and Uttarakhand governments; and state agencies, including the Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam. The pilgrimage was held until 2020 through the two official routes of Lipulekh Pass in Uttarakhand (since 1981) and the Nathu La Pass (since 2015) in Sikkim.
“Government will continue to take up this issue in its contacts with Chinese authorities,” the Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh had told Parliament in response to a question on the resumption of the pilgrimage in December 2024.
(Manas Dasgupta)
