News Brief
Kailash Mansarovar Yatra Set To Resume In 2025, MEA Says Preparations Underway
Mount Kailash (Pic Via Wikipedia)
The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday indicated that the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra may resume soon, adding that a formal public notice in this regard is likely to be issued shortly.
Addressing the weekly press briefing on Thursday (17 April), MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “We will soon issue a public notice regarding the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, and there is a strong possibility that the Yatra will begin shortly".
The proposed Yatra resumption is being explored by both India and China as part of diplomatic efforts to normalise ties, following troop disengagement at Demchok and Depsang under an agreement reached in October last year.
Jaiswal further said that India is in talks with China at multiple levels over several issues, including Visa.
"During these talks, we have discussed a variety of issues, including people-to-people exchanges, movement between the two countries, direct air services, and the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra," he added.
Responding to another question on the Yatra, the MEA spokesperson said, "The yatra will happen this year. And we are making preparations and more information would be put out for the public soon".
The Kailash Mansarovar Yatra was organised by the Centre every year between June and September, through the two official routes of Lipulekh Pass (since 1981) in Uttarakhand and Nathu La Pass (since 2015) in Sikkim.
Chinese visa is required for pilgrims for 'darshan' of Mount Kailash.
However, the Yatra has not taken place since 2020 following the COVID-19 outbreak and the subsequent non-renewal of Yatra arrangements by the Chinese side.
In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha in December last year, Union Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs, Kirti Vardhan Singh, said that government had taken up the issue of resumption of Kailash Manasarovar Yatra with Chinese authorities in its diplomatic engagements.
He had said that the issue was raised by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar during his meeting with Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of G20 summit in Brazil's Rio De Janeiro.
The issue was also taken up during the talks in Beijing between National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
