India to resume issuing tourist visas for Chinese nationals from July 24 after five-year hiatus: Report

INDIA will resume issuing tourist visas to Chinese citizens from 24 July 2025, marking the first such move in five years, the Indian Embassy in Beijing announced on Wednesday, according to Reuters.

Tensions between India and China escalated following a 2020 military clash along their disputed Himalayan border. In response, India imposed restrictions on Chinese investments, banned hundreds of popular Chinese apps and cut passenger routes.

China suspended visas to Indian citizens and other foreigners around the same time due to the Covid-19 pandemic but lifted those restrictions in 2022, when it resumed issuing visas for students and business travellers.

China's Foreign Ministry, responding to India's decision to resume tourist visas for Chinese citizens, said it is ready to continuously enhance the level of personnel exchanges between the two countries.

Tourist visas for Indian nationals remained restricted until March 2025, when both countries agreed to resume direct air service.

Earlier this year, both nations had agreed in principle to restore direct flights, restart visa services, and resume the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra — a major pilgrimage route for Indian citizens.

This agreement, aimed at rebuilding confidence and stability in the relationship, followed high-level diplomatic exchanges between New Delhi and Beijing. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri visited China for two days in January, signalling renewed engagement between the two Asian giants.

“As agreed between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping at their meeting in Kazan in October, Foreign Secretary and Chinese Vice Foreign Minister HE Mr Sun Weidong reviewed the state of India-China bilateral relations comprehensively and agreed to take certain people-centric steps to stabilise and rebuild ties," the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

The ministry further confirmed: “The two sides decided to resume the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra in the summer of 2025."

“They also agreed to hold an early meeting of the India-China Expert Level Mechanism to discuss the resumption of the provision of hydrological data and other cooperation pertaining to trans-border rivers,” the January release added.

Building on this momentum, earlier this week External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held discussions with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Foreign Ministers’ call on the Chinese head of state.

In a separate meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Jaishankar stressed the need for a long-term resolution to pressing bilateral concerns.

“Incumbent on us to address aspects related to the border, normalising people-to-people exchanges and avoiding restrictive trade measures and roadblocks,” Jaishankar wrote on X.