
India to resume issuing visas to Chinese tourists after 5-year gap
The Indian embassy in Beijing, in a notification, said Chinese nationals may apply for tourist visas from July 24
As part of efforts to mend frayed ties with China in the wake of the military clashes in Galwan Valley, India is set to resume issuance of tourist visas to Chinese nationals starting this week.
Visa application from July 24
India had suspended issuance of tourist visas to Chinese nationals in 2020, largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the restrictions continued in view of the eastern Ladakh border row.
The Indian embassy in Beijing in a notification said Chinese nationals may apply for tourist visas from Thursday (July 24).
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It also explained the required procedures to apply for the visas, as well as the documents required to be submitted at respective Indian visa application centres in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou.
Jaishankar-Wang Yi talks
The decision comes nearly a week-and-a-half after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held extensive talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing.
Jaishankar visited China on July 14-15 primarily to attend a conclave of the foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
Also read: Jaishankar in China: Need to address de-escalation, build on progress in ties
The external affairs minister also held talks with Chinese Vice President Han Zheng and conveyed to him that continued normalisation of bilateral ties can lead to mutually beneficial outcomes.
Mending strained relations
In the last few months, India and China have initiated a number of measures to repair the bilateral ties that had severely nosedived following the deadly clashes between the two militaries in June 2020.
The efforts to normalise the relations were initiated after the Indian and Chinese militaries ended their face-off along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in October last year.
In his opening remarks at the meeting with Wang, Jaishankar said the bilateral relationship requires both sides taking a "far-seeing approach".
Also read: EAM Jaishankar urges China to avoid restrictive trade measures
Last month, the two sides resumed the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra after a gap of nearly five years.
(With inputs from agencies)