india resumes Tourist Visas for Chinese Citizens After Five-Year Hiatus
India has announced the resumption of tourist visas for Chinese citizens, a move that comes five years after they were suspended. The decision marks a meaningful step in the normalization of relations between the two Asian giants,following a period of heightened political and military tensions.
The Indian embassy in china shared the news via a weibo post on Wednesday, stating that Chinese citizens can begin applying for tourist visas starting July 24 in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. This growth is seen as a positive signal for people-to-people exchanges and comes ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) defense summit scheduled for August in China. Speculation is rife that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi may attend this summit,which would mark his first visit to China since the 2020 border clashes.
The suspension of tourist visas was part of a broader set of measures India implemented after the 2020 military clashes in the Galwan Valley along the Line of actual Control (LAC), which resulted in the deaths of at least 20 Indian soldiers. Alongside visa restrictions, India also curtailed investments from China and banned several Chinese mobile applications.
While flights and visa services between the two nations were also halted during the COVID-19 pandemic, the political tensions following the 2020 clashes kept these services suspended for an extended period. However, relations have seen a gradual betterment since last year. China began reinstating visa services for Indian citizens in 2022, and a notable upswing in diplomatic engagement has been observed as then.
High-level discussions have been instrumental in fostering this thaw. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Russia last year, where both leaders agreed to enhance communication channels to address conflicts and improve bilateral ties. More recently, in June, India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri held discussions with China’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Sun Weidong in Delhi.Their talks focused on resuming direct flights, facilitating data sharing on transnational rivers, and strengthening “people-centric engagements.”
The impact of these improved relations is already visible in travel statistics. Between January and April of this year,China issued approximately 85,000 visas to Indian travelers,indicating a growing trend in cross-border movement.
India and China share a lengthy border of over 3,440 kilometers (2,100 miles), marked by overlapping territorial claims.The Galwan Valley clash occurred at the de facto border,the Line of Actual Control (LAC),highlighting the sensitive nature of their shared frontier.
