India and China have agreed to resume the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra in the summer of 2025, as announced by India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) following a meeting between Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing on Monday, January 27.
The meeting, held under the Foreign Secretary-Vice Foreign Minister programme, reviewed the state of India-China bilateral relations and identified people-centric steps to stabilise and strengthen ties, in line with the discussions between India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping during their October meeting in Kazan.
The MEA stated that the relevant mechanisms will further discuss the logistics for the Yatra based on existing agreements.
Both sides also agreed, in principle, to resume direct air services between the two countries, with technical authorities from both sides set to negotiate an updated framework for this initiative.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Monday in Beijing, in which he called for mutual understanding between the two nations instead of "suspicion" and "alienation." https://t.co/75LIdk5FjH pic.twitter.com/s7tU7pRV1X
— CCTV+ (@CCTV_Plus) January 27, 2025
Additionally, both parties agreed to hold an early meeting of the India-China Expert Level Mechanism to discuss the resumption of hydrological data sharing and other cooperation related to trans-border rivers.
As 2025 marks the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between India and China, both countries agreed to bolster public diplomacy efforts to enhance mutual awareness and rebuild trust and confidence among Indian and Chinese nationals. They also planned to organise commemorative activities to mark the anniversary.
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India and China have also agreed to gradually resume dialogues to address each other’s key concerns, including specific economic and trade issues, with the aim of promoting long-term policy transparency and stability.
During his two-day visit to Beijing, Foreign Secretary Misri also met with Liu Jianchao, the Minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China.
On the Chinese side, it was emphasised that positive interactions at all levels had accelerated since the Modi-Xi meeting in Kazan, and that both countries should seize the opportunity to explore more substantial measures.
“The two sides should seize the opportunity, meet each other halfway, explore more substantive measures, and commit to mutual understanding, mutual support, and mutual achievement, rather than mutual suspicion, mutual alienation, and mutual consumption,” read a statement issued by the Chinese side on Monday, as quoted by IANS.
“The improvement and development of China-India relations is fully in line with the fundamental interests of the two countries and their peoples, is conducive to safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of the global South countries, and is conducive to making contributions of the two ancient civilizations to peace, stability, development and prosperity in Asia and the world,” it added.
