Latest news with #ChinaIndiaRelations
South China Morning Post
12 hours ago
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Will return of Indian pilgrims to Tibet help ease long-running border tensions with China?
China has been urged to use the resumption of visits to Tibet by Indian pilgrims to improve relations between the two countries after years of tensions. 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.
South China Morning Post
13-06-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
China and India to work to bring back direct flights in latest drive to stabilise ties
China and India have agreed to work towards the resumption of direct flights and take other moves to boost exchanges as the latest step in their efforts to stabilise relations The measures were announced after Indian foreign secretary Vikram Misri held talks with Chinese foreign vice-minister Sun Weidong, who was on a two-day visit to India. New Delhi's statement released on Friday said the two sides had reviewed developments since their last meeting in January and 'agreed to continue to stabilise and rebuild ties with priority on people-centric engagements'. Both countries agreed to work towards resuming direct flights, a measure first agreed upon in talks held in Beijing in January. 'The two sides further agreed to take practical steps for visa facilitation and exchanges between media and think-tanks,' the statement said. Sun's visit marks the first visit by a senior Chinese official to India since the recent conflict with Pakistan, one of Beijing's main international partners, over Kashmir.
Free Malaysia Today
13-06-2025
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
India, China to ‘expedite' resumption of direct flights
Flights between China and India were initially halted after the Covid-19 pandemic. (EPA Images pic) NEW DELHI : India said today it had agreed with neighbouring China to 'expedite' the process to resume direct flights between them in a sign of further improvement in ties, although no timeline was given. Flights were halted after the Covid-19 pandemic and a subsequent deadly clash in 2020 between their troops on the Himalayan border. 'The two sides agreed to expedite steps involved in resuming direct air services,' New Delhi's foreign ministry said in a statement. It came a day after the country's top career diplomat Vikram Misri met Chinese vice-foreign minister Sun Weidong in India. In Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said China had 'a positive attitude' towards resuming flights after five years. 'Resuming direct flights between China and India is conducive to personnel exchanges and cooperation between the two sides and is in the common interests of both sides,' Lin told a regular press conference in Beijing. New Delhi and Beijing first announced in January an in-principle agreement to restart flights. The neighbours also agreed to take 'practical steps for visa facilitation and exchanges between media and think tanks', the ministry's statement added. About 500 monthly direct flights operated between China and India before the pandemic, according to Indian media outlet Moneycontrol. There are already regular flights between India and Hong Kong. India and China are intense rivals competing for influence across South Asia. At least 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers were killed in the 2020 skirmish in a remote stretch along their 3,500km high-altitude frontier. India then moved closer to the US-led Quad alliance – which also includes Japan and Australia – which seeks to counter China's growing influence in the Asia-Pacific region. New Delhi also clamped down on Chinese companies, preventing them from investing in critical economic sectors, along with a ban on hundreds of Chinese gaming and e-commerce apps, including TikTok. Mutual distrust remains. But they agreed to pull back troops posted at a key flashpoint along the disputed border in October, shortly before a rare formal meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Later this month, China is expected to allow Indian pilgrims to trek to Mount Kailash in Tibet, a site holy to Hindus and Buddhists. Indians have not been allowed to take part in the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra pilgrimage since it was also stopped in 2020.
Russia Today
09-06-2025
- Business
- Russia Today
China optimistic on diplomatic relations with India
Chinese Ambassador to India, Xu Feihong has expressed optimism for strong diplomatic relations between the two nations. Speaking to reporters on Sunday in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata, Xu noted that the millennia of shared history between the two nations brings them beyond simple neighbourly relations. 'China and India have been civilisations for so long. We have such close cultural and historical interactions. So, why shouldn't we have good relations in the coming years,' Xu said. Though tensions and mistrust remain, he emphasized that genuine progress necessitates more than high-level diplomacy. 'It's not only up to the governments,' he was quoted by the Times of India as saying. Ambassador Xu's statements come against the backdrop of Beijing's recent overtures to New Delhi, to open up economic and people-to-people relations. The Asian giants have made efforts to reset ties Oover the last year, after the 2020 Galwan Valley clash along their disputed Himalayan border, in which soldiers from both sides were killed. After extended military and diplomatic discussions, New Delhi and Beijing announced in October last year that they had reached an agreement on disengagement from areas of tension and would work towards normalizing their relations. The announcement was made on the eve of the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, where Chinese President Xi Jingping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a comprehensive bilateral meeting, marking their first such engagement in almost five years. In Kolkata on Sunday, Xu emphasized the importance of various groups, including think-tanks, universities, and students, as well as ordinary citizens from both sides, in fostering a positive relationship. He also highlighted the crucial understanding between Xi and Modi, which focuses on strengthening ties and keeping lines of communication open. VIDEO | Xu Feihong (@China_Amb_India), Chinese Ambassador to India, says, "China and India have been so long civilisations. We have so close cultural and historical interactions. So, why shouldn't we have good relations in the coming years? Of course, a lot of work needs to be… In April, Xi pointed out that China and India are both ancient civilizations, major developing countries, and key members of the Global South, with both currently at a crucial stage in their modernization efforts. As a step towards the normalization of relations, Indian pilgrims will be allowed to visit a pilgrimage sites of religious significance to Hindus, Jains and Buddhists at Mount Kailash and Lake Mansarovar in Tibet, after a gap of five years. Beijing has also called on New Delhi to restart direct flights between mainland India and China, as well as to ease visa procedures for Chinese nationals.
CNA
14-05-2025
- Politics
- CNA
India rejects China's latest renaming of places in Arunachal border state
NEW DELHI: India said on Wednesday (May 14) that it rejects China's move to rename places in the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh where the Asian neighbours share a border, adding that the Himalayan territory was an integral part of India. Beijing has renamed places in Arunachal Pradesh in the past as well and the issue has been an irritant in ties between the two countries, especially as they deteriorated sharply after a deadly military clash elsewhere on their border in 2020. They reached an agreement in October to step back from their four-year military stand-off in the western Himalayas, leading to disengagement of troops. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a media briefing that Beijing had "standardised some place names in (Arunachal Pradesh), which is entirely within China's sovereignty", repeating what has been Beijing's standard response. Beijing says Arunachal Pradesh, which its calls Zangnan, is a part of South Tibet, a claim New Delhi has repeatedly dismissed. "Creative naming will not alter the undeniable reality that Arunachal Pradesh was, is, and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India," India's foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Wednesday. In April last year, China made a similar move by renaming about 30 locations in Arunachal Pradesh, which India dismissed as "senseless" and reaffirmed the region's status as an "integral part" of the country. India and China share a poorly demarcated 3,800km frontier and fought a brief but brutal war in 1962. There have also been infrequent clashes between their troops, with 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers killed in the 2020 fighting. The India-China exchange comes days after India and Pakistan ended four days of intense military fighting, during which they used jets, missiles and drones, after New Delhi struck what it called terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistani Kashmir. The Indian strike came in response to an Apr 22 attack on Hindu tourists in Indian Kashmir which killed 26 men.
