India to resume issuing tourist visas to Chinese citizens

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By Farah Master

HONG KONG (Reuters) -India will resume issuing tourist visas to Chinese citizens from July 24 this year, its embassy in China said on Wednesday, the first time in five years as both countries move to repair their rocky relationship.

Tensions between the two countries 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. 

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

Relations have gradually improved, with several high-level meetings taking place last year, including talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Russia in October.

China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on Wednesday that Beijing had noted the positive move.

“China is ready to maintain communication and consultation with India and constantly improve the level of personal exchanges between the two countries,” he said.

India and China share a 3,800 km (2,400-mile) border that has been disputed since the 1950s. The two countries fought a brief but brutal border war in 1962 and negotiations to settle the dispute have made slow progress. 

In July, India’s foreign minister told his Chinese counterpart that both countries must resolve border friction, pull back troops and avoid “restrictive trade measures” to normalise their relationship.

(Additional reporting by Eduardo Baptista and the Beijing newsroom; Editing by Tom Hogue and Saad Sayeed)