New Delhi: India and China have decided to resume the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra this year, and have also agreed to hold an early meeting of the Expert Level Mechanism to discuss resumption of provision of hydrological data and cooperation on trans-border rivers, following talks between Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing.
Foreign Secretary Misri visited Beijing on January 26-27 for a meeting of the Foreign Secretary-Vice Foreign Minister mechanism between the two sides held on January 27.
As agreed between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping at their meeting in Kazan on October 23, the two sides reviewed the state of India-China bilateral relations comprehensively and agreed to take certain people-centric steps to stabilize and rebuild ties, a statement said.
In this context, the two sides decided to resume the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra in the summer of 2025; and will discuss the modalities for doing so as per 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.
The two sides agreed to take appropriate measures to further promote and facilitate people-to-people exchanges, including media and think-tank interactions. They agreed in principle to resume direct air services between the two countries; the relevant technical authorities on the two sides will meet and negotiate an updated framework for this purpose at an early date.
The two sides recognize that 2025, being the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and China, should be utilized to redouble public diplomacy efforts to create better awareness about each other and restore mutual trust and confidence among the public. The two sides will conduct a number of commemorative activities to mark this anniversary.
The two sides took stock of the extant mechanisms for functional exchanges. It was agreed to resume these dialogues step by step and to utilize 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.
During his visit, Foreign Secretary called on Member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Director of the Office of Central Commission of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and Minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China Liu Jianchao.
Earlier, the Chinese Ambassador Xu Feihong said on a post on X:
“Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with the visiting India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Monday in Beijing.
“Wang said China and India should seize the opportunity to meet each other halfway, explore more substantive measures, and commit themselves to mutual understanding, mutual support and mutual achievement, rather than mutual suspicion, alienation and mutual depletion.”
UNI
