China to allow Kailash yatra via Nathu La

China has agreed to allow pilgrims from India to visit Kailash-Mansarovar in Tibet Autonomous Region through Nathu La, signalling a thaw in bilateral relations months after it had shut the route through the mountain pass in June 2017 following the face-off in Doklam plateau.

This will be a key confidence building measure between the two neighbours who had decided to look ahead when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited China in September last year, officials said.

India had raised the matter with the Chinese government, including in the meeting of external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj with her counterpart in December 2017, minister of state for external affairs VK Singh told the Lok Sabha in a written reply on Wednesday. “Subsequently, the Chinese government has confirmed resumption of (Kailash Mansarovar) Yatra on this route,” he said.


The two countries are working together to arrange the yatra to holy Mount Kailash and Lake Mansarovar between June and September this year, officials said. The external affairs ministry will soon start seeking applications from people for the pilgrimage, they said.