The Embassy of India in China has announced that Chinese citizens can now apply for tourist visas to India, beginning July 24, after a five-year suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic and diplomatic tensions.
Applicants must complete an online visa application, schedule an appointment, and personally submit their passport and required documents to the Indian Visa Application Centres located in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou (in South China’s Guangdong Province).
“Please be informed that all passport withdrawal requests for applications submitted at the India Visa Application Centre in Beijing must be accompanied by a passport withdrawal letter,” the embassy added in a statement.
This is the first time in five years that India is reopening tourist visas for Chinese nationals. In 2020, India suspended all tourist visas to contain the spread of COVID-19. Since then, tourism and travel between the two countries have remained largely suspended, further complicated by diplomatic tensions following the Galwan Valley clash in the same year.
Following the 1962 war, bilateral relations between India and China hit a historic low again post-2020. After a series of diplomatic and military-level talks, both nations began withdrawing troops from several friction points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh.
In October last year, the two sides formalised a disengagement pact for Depsang and Demchok, the final remaining standoff points in Eastern Ladakh.
Earlier this year, India and China initiated steps to rebuild ties. This includes efforts to: Promote people-to-people exchanges, Resume direct flights, Restart the sacred Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, which had been suspended since the pandemic.
A major diplomatic moment came when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping met in Kazan, where several decisions were taken to mend the strained relationship.
India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar also recently noted that both countries are moving in a “positive direction” and more work is required to fully normalise the relationship.
Source: News18
