India reopens tourist visa for Chinese citizens after 5-year freeze

(Representative image)

In a significant step towards normalising bilateral ties, India is learnt to have resumed issuance of tourist visas to Chinese citizens worldwide-- a move ending a five-year suspension imposed following the 2020 Galwan clash.

The fresh move followed some sequence of steps taken earlier this year, comprising the January 2025 agreement between India and China when the two countries agreed to resume direct passenger flights.

Officials, privy to the development, said that the decision followed an order issued in July this year suggesting to resume tourist visas for Chinese nationals.

A month ago, the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra pilgrimage, halted for five years, was also revived in June 2025, with the first group of Indian pilgrims crossing into Tibet.

Earlier, on April 1, marking 75 years of diplomatic ties, Presidents Xi Jinping and Droupadi Murmu, along with Premier Li Qiang and PM Modi, exchanged congratulatory messages, signalling renewed commitment to stability.

Throughout 2025, diplomacy between India and China intensified as External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar visited Beijing in July, noting relations were "gradually moving in a positive direction" with a "fundamental basis for mutual strategic trust."

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi reciprocated with a two-day trip to New Delhi in August, meeting National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and EAM Jaishankar to discuss border de-escalation and normalisation.

This paved the way for PM Modi's landmark visit to China on August 31, his first in seven years, for the SCO Summit in Tianjin, where he and Xi committed to viewing each other as "partners rather than rivals."

Earlier on November 10, Consul General of India in Shanghai, Pratik Mathur, on Monday welcomed the first batch of passengers arriving from New Delhi as direct commercial flights between India and China officially resumed after five years.

India in Shanghai wrote in an X post, "Fair Winds & Clear skies! India emerges as a Global Hub as people-to-people ties grow stronger. CG @PratikMathur1 was at hand to receive the first set of passengers as direct flights resumed between New Delhi and Shanghai."