India and China have agreed to restart the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, which had been halted since 2020. This decision came during a meeting between Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. “The relevant mechanisms will discuss the modalities for the Yatra in line with existing agreements. Both sides also agreed to hold an early meeting of the India-China Expert Level Mechanism to discuss the resumption of hydrological data sharing and other cooperation on trans-border rivers,” said the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in a statement.
Additionally, the two nations agreed in principle to resume direct flights and to enhance people-to-people exchanges, particularly between media and think tanks.
“The two sides reviewed the existing frameworks for functional exchanges and agreed to progressively resume dialogues to address mutual priorities and concerns. Economic and trade-related issues were also discussed, with a focus on resolving them and ensuring long-term policy transparency,” the MEA added.
Vikram Misri is currently on a two-day visit to Beijing for talks under the Foreign Secretary-Vice Minister mechanism, a bilateral platform aimed at strengthening India-China relations across political, economic, and people-to-people domains.
India has reiterated that the normalization of ties with China hinges on maintaining peace in border areas. Following the completion of the disengagement process in Demchok and Depsang, both Indian and Chinese militaries resumed patrolling these areas after a gap of nearly four-and-a-half years.
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