(Bloomberg) — India and China have agreed to resume an annual pilgrimage to the Tibet Autonomous Region, in another sign of improving ties between the two nuclear-armed neighbors.
Most Read from Bloomberg
The religious journey to Mount Kailash — a sacred site in Hinduism and Buddhism — is expected to restart soon, Randhir Jaiswal, spokesman for India’s Ministry of External Affairs, said on Thursday. “We will soon issue a notice to the public on the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra,” he said.
The pilgrimage, which is organized by India’s foreign ministry, was suspended five years ago when border clashes between soldiers of the two nations left at least 20 Indian and an unknown number of Chinese troops dead. Diplomatic and economic relations between the world’s two most populous nations had plunged after the dispute.
Thursday’s announcement comes six months after Chinese President Xi Jinping and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi met at the BRICS summit in Russia and agreed to stabilize relations. It also comes at a time when Xi is attempting to win over regional allies, in an apparent effort to counter US pressure on nations to limit trade ties with Beijing.
In recent months, India and China have agreed to resume direct flights and facilitate visas. Officials from the two sides had also been discussing the pilgrimage issue since last year.
The world’s second-largest economy has said it’s willing to buy Indian products to balance trade. However, New Delhi retains a hardline stance on Chinese investments, saying that it will restrict market access to China’s BYD Co.
–With assistance from Eltaf Najafizada.
Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek
©2025 Bloomberg L.P.