Indian pilgrims cross Chinese border into Tibet as relations thaw
The Kailash Manasarovar pilgrimage has long served as a bellwether for the level of tensions between the world’s two most populous countries.
A religious pilgrimage from India into China facilitated by both governments has resumed for the first time in five years — the latest sign of a cautious thaw in the contentious relationship between the world’s two most populous nations.
The first batch of Indian pilgrims taking part in the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra — named for the two Tibetan sacred sites the route traverses — left New Delhi on Sunday morning and crossed the mountainous border into China’s Tibet Autonomous Region on Friday.
The group of roughly 40 pilgrims acclimatized to the high Himalayan altitudes in the northern Indian state of Sikkim before setting off for a cross-border mountain pass 14,000 feet above sea level. The pilgrimage is set to conclude June 27 at Tibet’s Manasarovar Lake, in the shadow of Mount Kailash, a site Hindus believe to be the dwelling of the deity Lord Shiva. The sites are also sacred to adherents of other religions, including Buddhism and Jainism.
Upender Rao, 64, a lawyer from Hyderabad in southern India, considers himself “most fortunate” to be one of 750 pilgrims chosen by lottery to take part in the trip, which India’s Foreign Ministry planned meticulously. “I am a devotee of Lord Shiva,” so “I want to see the world of Lord Shiva,” he said in a phone interview. “That’s my dream.”
It is a dream that Rao has had to put on hold for the past five years. The 2020 pilgrimage was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, and subsequent pilgrimages were halted after June 2020, when Chinese and Indian soldiers clashed over disputed territory high in the Himalayas. At least four Chinese and 20 Indian soldiers died in the conflicts, which both sides fought without modern weapons in an apparent effort to avoid escalation.
The Kailash Manasarovar pilgrimage has long served as a bellwether for the state of relations between India and China, which have clashed sporadically for six decades along a disputed, 2,100-mile-long (3,400-kilometer-long) land border stretching from central Asia to the edges of Southeast Asia.
The border is not the only politically fraught area the pilgrims traverse: Beijing imposes tight restrictions on religious freedom in Tibet, which China annexed in 1951 over the objections of India. Since 1959, India has hosted the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan Buddhist religious leader, and the Tibetan government in exile.
In the resulting 1954 Sino-Indian agreement, the logistics of the pilgrimage were settled — but the location of the border was not. As tensions mounted over disputed territory, China invaded India in 1962. China’s decisive victory in the subsequent war brought China-India relations, and the pilgrimage, to a halt.
Nearly two decades later in 1981, a new generation of Chinese and Indian leaders negotiated to reopen the pilgrimage, talks that served as a precursor to negotiating a full renormalization of ties in 1988. Still, the countries failed to agree on a boundary line, and tense border standoffs — in 1987, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2017 — remained a mainstay of India-China relations.
After the clashes of 2020, which brought the bilateral relationship to its lowest point in four decades, China sealed the Tibetan border with India, while India banned 59 Chinese-made apps — including TikTok — and vowed to become self-reliant and separate itself from Chinese imports. India also increased its security engagement with the Quad, the informal diplomatic grouping of the United States, India, Japan and Australia, in a move toward countering Chinese power and influence.
At the same time, India and China have both backed away from further aggression. “There’s always a risk of unintended clashes” at the border, said Ashok Kantha, the Indian ambassador to China from 2014 to 2016. “I don’t think either side would like that to happen. Finding a modus vivendi, even though we may have our different interests that are not always convergent, is most desirable.”
Since the nadir of June 2020 — and minor clashes in 2021 and 2022 — the India-China relationship has shown signs of a slow recovery. Last October, the two sides announced an agreement to resume regular border patrols and committed “to bring the relationship back to sound and steady development at an early date,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Visits between top officials, including Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, followed.
Beijing and New Delhi both have touted the restoration of the Kailash Manasarovar pilgrimage as one of the chief diplomatic breakthroughs to emerge from the rapprochement. China hopes the pilgrims will not only be “spiritually enriched but also enjoy hospitality of Chinese people,” Yu Jing, the spokeswoman of the Chinese Embassy in Delhi, said in a social media post.
“From our side, there was interest” in resuming the pilgrimage, “because this resonates quite strongly at the popular level,” said Kantha, who worked on expanding pilgrimage routes during his tenure as ambassador. “The number of pilgrims is relatively small, but there is sentimental value attached to” the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra.
Yet an agreement such as this is “low-hanging fruit,” Kantha cautioned. The major geopolitical questions in the India-China relationship remain unresolved: Although last October’s agreement re-established buffer zones along the border, no progress has been made on demarcating the boundary line between the two countries, and there has yet to be a drawdown from the high number of soldiers deployed to the border region by both sides since 2020.
Normalizing relations “will be easier said than done,” said Chietigj Bajpaee, a senior research fellow at Chatham House who specializes in Asian affairs. “The resumption of the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra is more symbolism than substance given the bad blood in the bilateral relationship.”
For all the high-level geopolitics at play, though, Rao was pleasantly surprised to encounter a more personal reality on the ground. The pilgrims spent their first night in China at Kangma, a village some 100 miles (about 161 kilometers) behind the border, and met Tibetans for the first time. “Their hospitality is very good,” Rao said.
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Will return of Indian pilgrims to Tibet help ease 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.
“More importantly, they have promoted people-to-people exchanges and fostered mutual understanding between the two countries.”
China and India have been working to mend relations in recent months following years of tensions following a deadly 2020 clash along their disputed border, including an agreement to disengage troops last October.
Last week, Indian foreign secretary Vikram Misri held talks with Chinese foreign vice-minister Sun Weidong, and both sides agreed to work towards the resumption of direct flights and take other moves to boost exchanges on economics and trade.
While Misri expressed his appreciation for China’s decision to allow the Indian pilgrimages to resume, their long-running border dispute and rise of nationalist sentiment in both countries make this a fraught issue.
Concerns have been expressed inside India about restrictions placed on pilgrims by the Chinese government, particularly regarding religious practices and access to holy sites.
But in contrast, some Chinese nationalists are worried that allowing more religious activities might affect regional stability in Tibet, where Beijing has stressed religious activities must comply with national security rules.
But Yang argued that the pilgrimage was a “manageable” cultural exchange given the legal safeguards in place and small numbers involved.
The numbers permitted this year are limited “so we have the capacity and experience to ensure an orderly reception,” he said, and added that authorities have established a framework to oversee pilgrimages, including registration, route management and ecological protection.
This move “holds groundbreaking significance in shaping the pattern of friendly exchanges between China and India,” according to a commentary published on the website of party mouthpiece People’s Daily’s on Thursday.
During their pilgrimage, Indian devotees will experience Tibet’s religious culture, art and traditions, while Tibetans can interact with Indian pilgrims, fostering mutual understanding, it said. These exchanges will promote respect, cultural ties, and boost Tibet’s tourism and services sectors, it added.
“This grass roots engagement helps eliminate misunderstandings and lays a solid public support foundation for the healthy and stable development of China-India relations,” it wrote.
“Such people-to-people interactions further promote cooperation across political, economic, and cultural fields, creating a positive environment for resolving historical issues.” - SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
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