India will recommence the issuance of tourist visas to Chinese nationals starting July 24, as announced by its embassy in Beijing on Wednesday, marking the first instance in five years. In 2020, India had halted all tourist visas in an effort to mitigate the spread of Covid-19. In a statement, the Embassy of India in China indicated that Chinese citizens may apply for a tourist visa to India after completing an online application, scheduling an appointment, and personally submitting their passport along with other necessary documents at the Indian Visa Application Centers located in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, in Guangdong Province, South China. “Please be advised that all requests for passport withdrawal for applications submitted at the India Visa Application Center in Beijing must include a passport withdrawal letter..,” the statement further noted. Travel between India and China faced considerable disruption in recent years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, compounded by diplomatic tensions stemming from the 2020 Galwan clashes. While Beijing gradually resumed the issuance of visas to Indian students and business professionals, general travel remained limited.
Bilateral relations between the two nations had deteriorated to their lowest level since the 1962 war following the Galwan Valley confrontations. After a series of diplomatic and military discussions, both parties withdrew their troops from various points of contention along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh. In October of last year, both sides solidified a disengagement agreement for Depsang and Demchok, the final two points of friction in eastern Ladakh. Shortly thereafter, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping engaged in discussions in Kazan and made several decisions aimed at enhancing bilateral relations. Earlier this year, India and China sought avenues to restore their relationship and agreed to initiate efforts to foster people-to-people exchanges, which included arrangements for the resumption of direct flights and the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra this year. The Yatra had been suspended since the onset of Covid-19. The recent statements by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on India-China relations, highlighting a positive shift and the path to normalization.
