Pilgrimage to Tibet to resume after six-year gap, following several rounds of India-China negotiations after the LAC detente; 250 yatris to travel via Lipulekh pass, 500 to travel via Nathu La pass through Gangtok
Six years after the pilgrimage was last flagged off, the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra will restart with about 750 pilgrims travelling to Tibet between June and August 2025, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced on Saturday. The first batch of pilgrims are expected to travel out of Delhi on June 30, indicating a few weeks delay compared to previous years when they would start in early June.
The pilgrimage, that originally began in 1981 under a bilateral agreement, was suspended by the Chinese government due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and was not resumed due to the Galwan killings and tensions at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) since then. While an agreement on disengagement between Indian and Chinese troops was completed in October 2024, talks on de-escalation and demobilisation of troops are still ongoing.
Negotiating logistics
The resumption of the Mansarovar Yatra is one of the first such measures signalling the restoration of ties between the two countries. Other measures, including the restoration of direct flights, resumption of visas in all categories, and exchanges of media and think tank experts, are also being discussed by Delhi and Beijing, along with a number of events to mark 75 years of ties between India and China.
After talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Kazan last year, the two sides agreed to restore normal bilateral ties. The restart of the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage was discussed at many high-level meetings, and agreed upon during a visit to Beijing by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri in January this year. Since then, officials have held several rounds of negotiations on the logistics for the formal agreement on restarting the pilgrimage, using different mechanisms including the Working Mechanism for Coordination and Consultation at the India-China Border (WMCC).
750 pilgrims via two routes
The MEA announced that both routes — via Lipulekh pass through Dharchula in Uttarakhand, and via Nathu La Pass through Gangtok in Sikkim — will be reopened for the pilgrims or “yatris” between June and August 2025, with five batches of 50 pilgrims each being selected through a computerised process to travel through Lipulekh, and 10 batches of 50 pilgrims each through Nathu La.
“The Yatris will be selected from among applicants through a fair, computer-generated, random and gender-balanced selection process,” the MEA statement said. It invited applications for the trip that is open only to Indian citizens who have to pass certain fitness tests to ensure they can reach heights of up to 19,500 feet.
According to the website for applicants, kmy.gov.in, the trip via Lipulekh will cost about ₹1.74 lakh per person. The route via Nathu La, which is more motorable and suitable for senior citizens, will cost ₹2.83 lakh, accounting for higher airfares and accommodation on the trip via Sikkim. Both routes will take about three weeks.
Kailash Mansarovar yatra to begin end-June: MEA
Pilgrimage to Tibet to resume after six-year gap, following several rounds of India-China negotiations after the LAC detente; 250 yatris to travel via Lipulekh pass, 500 to travel via Nathu La pass through Gangtok
Six years after the pilgrimage was last flagged off, the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra will restart with about 750 pilgrims travelling to Tibet between June and August 2025, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced on Saturday. The first batch of pilgrims are expected to travel out of Delhi on June 30, indicating a few weeks delay compared to previous years when they would start in early June.
The pilgrimage, that originally began in 1981 under a bilateral agreement, was suspended by the Chinese government due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and was not resumed due to the Galwan killings and tensions at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) since then. While an agreement on disengagement between Indian and Chinese troops was completed in October 2024, talks on de-escalation and demobilisation of troops are still ongoing.
Negotiating logistics
The resumption of the Mansarovar Yatra is one of the first such measures signalling the restoration of ties between the two countries. Other measures, including the restoration of direct flights, resumption of visas in all categories, and exchanges of media and think tank experts, are also being discussed by Delhi and Beijing, along with a number of events to mark 75 years of ties between India and China.
After talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Kazan last year, the two sides agreed to restore normal bilateral ties. The restart of the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage was discussed at many high-level meetings, and agreed upon during a visit to Beijing by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri in January this year. Since then, officials have held several rounds of negotiations on the logistics for the formal agreement on restarting the pilgrimage, using different mechanisms including the Working Mechanism for Coordination and Consultation at the India-China Border (WMCC).
750 pilgrims via two routes
The MEA announced that both routes — via Lipulekh pass through Dharchula in Uttarakhand, and via Nathu La Pass through Gangtok in Sikkim — will be reopened for the pilgrims or “yatris” between June and August 2025, with five batches of 50 pilgrims each being selected through a computerised process to travel through Lipulekh, and 10 batches of 50 pilgrims each through Nathu La.
“The Yatris will be selected from among applicants through a fair, computer-generated, random and gender-balanced selection process,” the MEA statement said. It invited applications for the trip that is open only to Indian citizens who have to pass certain fitness tests to ensure they can reach heights of up to 19,500 feet.
According to the website for applicants, kmy.gov.in, the trip via Lipulekh will cost about ₹1.74 lakh per person. The route via Nathu La, which is more motorable and suitable for senior citizens, will cost ₹2.83 lakh, accounting for higher airfares and accommodation on the trip via Sikkim. Both routes will take about three weeks.
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