MEA asks Kailash Mansarovar pilgrims to secure all China travel documents

The advisory came after reports of pilgrims being stranded in Nepal and urged travellers to use authorised tour operators and ensure all required documentation is in place before starting the journey

By Abhishek Shanker

 

India advised citizens who are planning to undertake the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra pilgrimage in Tibet to ensure they have all the required Chinese visas and entry permits before beginning their journey, after reports of pilgrims stranded in Nepal awaiting documentation. 

The Ministry of External Affairs also urged travelers to verify that their private tour operator is registered and authorised, according to an advisory on Saturday. 

 

The Kailash Manasarovar Yatra is an annual pilgrimage to Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar in Tibet, sites considered sacred by Hindus and Buddhists. While the Indian government organises the trip via land routes in Uttarakhand and Sikkim states, private operators offer packages that go via Nepal and China.

 

 

The External Affairs ministry “is in receipt of several requests for help and assistance from Indian citizens stuck in Nepal while undertaking Kailash Manasarovar Yatra without the required entry permit and visas for China, through tours organised by private tour operators,” it said. 

 

Tibet has been under Chinese control since the 1950s. The pilgrimage was suspended in 2020 when border clashes between India and China left at least 20 Indian fighters and an unknown number of Chinese troops dead. Diplomatic and economic relations between the world’s two most populous nations plunged after the dispute. 

 

The pilgrimage’s revival was part of a broader thaw in India-China ties that began last year, with the neighbors also agreeing to resume direct flights, facilitate visas and restart sharing data on trans-border rivers. Earlier this month, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said bilateral ties were continuing to improve after meeting on the sidelines of a BRICS security gathering.