Will return of Indian pilgrims to Tibet help ease long-running border tensions with China?
Supporters of the move have pointed to the positive role religious travellers play in boosting people-to-people exchanges
Earlier this year, China said it would allow pilgrims to return to the Tibet autonomous region this summer to follow two pilgrimage routes after a five-year suspension caused by Covid controls and ongoing cross-border tensions.
It is open to Indian citizens with valid passports who wish to travel to Mount Kailash and Lake Mansarovar for religious reasons.
The sites are sacred to followers of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Bon. The pilgrimages are usually organised by the Indian government and involve treks through the Lipulekh Pass in Uttarakhand or Nathu La Pass in Sikkim.
This year, 5,561 people applied to make the journey, 750 of whom will be allowed to travel along the two routes between June and August, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said last month.
“Pilgrimages by Indian devotees to Tibet have played a positive role in restoring stability in China-India relations during times of crisis,” Yang Yabo, director of the Institute of South Asia Studies at the Tibet Academy of Social Sciences in Lhasa, wrote in an article published in news platform ThePaper on Thursday.