 "People look at a portrait of Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Museum of the Communist Party of China in Beijing on February 23, 2025. Representative image/AFP")
China has welcomed India’s move to start issuing tourist visas to Chinese citizens again from July 24.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday (July 23) called the development “positive”, noting that it would make cross-border travel easier.
“We take note of India’s resumption of tourist visas for Chinese citizens. This is a positive move. Easing cross-border travel is widely beneficial. China will maintain communication and consultation with India to further facilitate travel between the two countries,” the MFA posted on X.
Earlier this year, reports surfaced that India and China had agreed in principle to restart direct flights, resume visa issuance, and revive the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra for pilgrims, marking a step toward mending ties strained since the 2020 border clashes.
India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri recently spent two days in Beijing, a sign of renewed diplomatic efforts between Asia’s two biggest economies.
“As agreed between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping at their meeting in Kazan in October, Foreign Secretary and Chinese Vice Foreign Minister HE Mr Sun Weidong reviewed the state of India-China bilateral relations comprehensively and agreed to take certain people-centric steps to stabilise and rebuild ties,” the Ministry of External Affairs stated in a release.
“The two sides decided to resume the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra in the summer of 2025,” it added.
The release also noted, “They also agreed to hold an early meeting of the India-China Expert Level Mechanism to discuss the resumption of the provision of hydrological data and other cooperation pertaining to trans-border rivers.”
Impact Shorts
More ShortsJaishankar’s visit to China
This month, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing during a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) event.
In talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Jaishankar stressed a long-term approach to resolving issues.
“Incumbent on us to address aspects related to the border, normalising people-to-people exchanges and avoiding restrictive trade measures and roadblocks,” he posted on X afterwards.
“Confident that on the foundation of mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual sensitivity, ties can develop along a positive trajectory,” he added.
India-China tensions
Tensions flared after a military standoff in eastern Ladakh began in May 2020, escalating with a deadly clash in the Galwan Valley that June. Over the past nine months, India and China have worked to normalise relations, culminating in the end of the military face-off along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in October last year.
However, while troops have disengaged from key friction points, full de-escalation remains pending, with each side still stationing 50,000 to 60,000 troops along the LAC in eastern Ladakh.
Last year’s meeting between Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Kazan set a hopeful tone for improving and developing China-India relations.