The pilgrimage to Mount Kailash and Mansarovar Lake, set to resume after a gap of five years. (Photo:X)
Ever since the war of 1962, India has not been able to see eye to eye with China on numerous issues, not merely centred around the India-China border, but also other aspects like Beijing’s One Road One Belt initiative or its attempted dominance of the Indo-Pacific region. However, there were periods of goodwill too, when the realisation had dawned that mutual hostility between the two major Asian nations had proved disadvantageous to their interests, which would have been better served by engaging in more amicable relations.
But, the serious border clash at the Line of Actual Control in the Galwan Valley of Ladakh in June 2020, when 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers were killed, had put paid to any warming up of relationship and started a half-decade-long phase that marked the nadir in India-China exchanges. In tit-for-tat moves, India imposed restrictions on Chinese investments and visas for Chinese nationals and banned Chinese apps, and China retaliated with similar measures, including suspension of visas for Indian nationals and direct flights to China, as also withdrawal of permission for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, the last a huge blow to Indian pilgrims for whom such a once-in-a-lifetime trip had been the spiritual highlight of their lives.
Fortunately, in recent days, protracted diplomacy has led to a lessening of tensions on the border and another try at forging warmer relations.
Not allowing the border dispute to infringe on amicable relations and hamper bilateral trade and other interactions beneficial to both nations is certainly the most sensible thing to do, particularly because of the global volatility being created by US President Donald Trump.
An immediate and welcome outcome of adopting such a sensible course has been the revival of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra and preparations for the same. Despite the Yatra being somewhat difficult and the health parameters for undertaking the same being stringent, there has been a palpable sense of excitement amongst the devout at the resumption, as shown by the huge number of applicants wanting to go on the pilgrimage.
Finally, a computer-generated lot had to be drawn to select the participants, which resulted in 750 being chosen as the lucky winners. These participants will travel in five batches of 50 pilgrims via the Lipulekh route, and 10 batches of 50 Yatris each through the Nathu La route, under strict supervision of the Indian security forces. It may be noted that the pilgrimage to Mount Kailash and Mansarovar Lake in China’s Tibet Autonomous Region holds religious significance to Hindus as well as Jains, Buddhists and Bon faiths. That such a measure has been reimplemented during the year that marks the 75th anniversary of China-India diplomatic relations does carry a symbolic weight and is a gratifying indication of what can be achieved through mutual cooperation.