India, China to resume direct flights, Kailash Mansarovar Yatra; issue visas soon

India and China have decided to resume the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra in the summer of 2025, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced following Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri's meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing, on Monday.

Both sides also agreed, in principle, to resume direct air services between the two countries with the relevant technical authorities on the two sides to negotiate an updated framework for the purpose at an early date.

The two sides will also issue visas, according to the Hindu.

The meeting, held under the Foreign Secretary-Vice Foreign Minister mechanism, reviewed the state of India-China bilateral relations comprehensively and agreed to take certain people-centric steps to stabilise and rebuild ties, as agreed between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping during their meeting in Kazan in October.

According to the MEA, the relevant mechanism will discuss further the modalities for the Yatra as per the existing agreements.

"They also agreed to hold an early meeting of the India-China Expert Level Mechanism to discuss resumption of provision of hydrological data and other cooperation pertaining to trans-border rivers," read a statement issued by the MEA.

With 2025 being the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and China, it was decided by both sides to "redouble" public diplomacy efforts to create better awareness about each other and restore mutual trust and confidence among the public.

Taking stock of the extant mechanisms for functional exchanges, both sides will also conduct a number of commemorative activities to mark the anniversary.

"It was agreed to resume these dialogues step by step and to utilise them to address each other's priority areas of interest and concern. Specific concerns in the economic and trade areas were discussed with a view to resolving these issues and promoting long-term policy transparency and predictability," the MEA stated.

Besides calling on Wang Yi, who is also a Member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and Director of the Office of Central Commission of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Secretary Misri also held discussions with Minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China Liu Jianchao during his two-day visit to Beijing.

Meanwhile, the Chinese side emphasised that positive interactions have been carried out at all levels and the process of improving China-India relations accelerated since the meeting between PM Modi and Xi Jinping in Kazan last year.

"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.

"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.

Indi-Asian News Services