India and China Explore Closer People-to-People Ties Amid Kailash Mansarovar Yatra
On Monday, June 23, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval in Beijing.
To attend the 20th Meeting of the SCO Security Council Secretaries, NSA Doval travelled to China.
Doval reaffirmed India’s commitment to destroying terror infrastructure and talked about more general topics including Iran, Ukraine, and the need to improve people-to-people relations, according to a report by The Economic Times.
“Recent developments in India-China bilateral relations were discussed by both parties during the discussion, and it was emphasised that increasing people-to-people ties are one way to support the overall development of India-China bilateral relations. In order to preserve regional peace and stability, the NSA further underlined the necessity of combating terrorism in all of its forms and manifestations, the MEA stated in a release.
It further stated that opinions were shared on various bilateral, regional, and international matters of shared interest.
In response, Wang Yi cited “positive progress” in participation and urged fruitful discussion on border stability.
The discussion takes place as the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra, a symbolic pilgrimage that was put on hold for five years because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the violence in the Galwan Valley in 2020, is starting up again.
The Washington Post reported that the first group of roughly 40 Indian pilgrims left New Delhi on June 16 and entered the Tibet Autonomous Region on June 21.
Devotees travel to Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar, which are revered by Jains, Buddhists, and Hindus. Beijing greeted the pilgrims and presented the reopening as a friendly gesture.
The resuscitation of the Yatra is viewed as a significant step towards fostering confidence in India-China ties, even if there are still unsolved issues like the Line of Actual Control (LAC) conflicts and China’s assistance for Pakistan.
LONDON: India and the UK today announced deals worth 9-billion pounds as they signed a civil nuclear pact and decided Read more
BEIJING: China's pain of economic slowdown is India's pain too, RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan said contradicting government assertions that India Read more
BEIJING: A Chinese woman heading home for the holidays had a commercial airline flight all to herself after gruelling delays Read more
Beijing is installing radar facilities on its artificial islands in the disputed South China Sea, an American think tank has Read more
