The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Saturday made public that the highly anticipated Kailash Mansarovar Yatra will be held between June and August this year.
As per the MEA's notification, "This year, five batches of 50 Yatris each and 10 batches of 50 Yatris each are scheduled to trek through Uttarakhand State overtopping at Lipulekh Pass, and through Sikkim State overtopping at Nathu La Pass, respectively."
Applications for the pilgrimage are available online through the official website, kmy.gov.in. Pilgrims will be selected based on a "fair, computer-generated, random and gender-balanced" process, as mentioned in the ministry's statement.
Since 2015, the whole system — from online application to final selection — has been completely digitalized, making the process smooth and transparent. "The applicants do not have to send letters or fax to request information. The feedback facilities on the website can be utilized for seeking information, recording observations or submitting suggestions for improvement," the MEA explained.
Efforts to resume the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra had been under way since the beginning of this year between India and China. The yatra has remained suspended since 2020 owing to the COVID-19 pandemic and lack of fresh arrangements with China. Prior to the suspension, the Yatra was organized traditionally from June to September through two official channels — Lipulekh Pass in Uttarakhand (in operation since 1981) and Nathu La Pass in Sikkim (opened in 2015).
Resumption of the Yatra was planned following a meeting under the Foreign Secretary–Vice Foreign Minister framework in January 2025, during which both sides agreed to resume the pilgrimage in the summer.
In this meeting, presided over by Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, the two sides thoroughly discussed bilateral relations and pledged to "people-centric" measures to stabilize and rebuild relations, in accordance with the understanding arrived at between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping during their summit in Kazan in October 2024.
Besides, the two nations agreed in principle to restore direct air connectivity, and technical authorities responsible for negotiating a new framework for the resumption of flight services were tasked with doing so.
During follow-up talks last month in Beijing, where the Foreign Ministries of the two countries met officially, it was ascertained that efforts were ongoing to complete the modalities for the resumption of the Yatra.
Gourangalal Das, Joint Secretary (East Asia) of the MEA, met with Liu Jinsong, Director General of the Department of Asian Affairs of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to discuss progress. Their conversation centered on implementing strategic decisions from the January 2025 meeting between the Indian Foreign Secretary and the Chinese Vice Foreign Minister.
"They took positive note of the progress in bilateral relations since the India-China leaders' meeting in October 2024. The Foreign Ministers have met twice during the interval, and the Special Representatives on the India-China boundary issue have met for the 23rd time. These at the top level meetings provided strategic direction to stabilize and further strengthen relations," the MEA said.
The ministry also stated, "They agreed to push further for additional facilitation and promotion of people-to-people exchanges, such as arrangements for the resumption of direct air links, engagement of media and think-tanks, and observance of the 75th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic ties. The two sides have continued to advance in the modalities for resumption of Kailash Mansarovar Yatra in 2025."
Both nations also touched on arrangements for future exchanges and activities during the year and agreed to restart dialogue mechanisms progressively to discuss areas of major common concern and put their relationship on a more predictable and stable basis, the MEA added.
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