Guo emphasized that facilitating cross-border travel “serves the mutual interests of all parties, China will continue to engage in dialogue and consultation with India to further enhance people-to-people exchanges,” he remarked.
This initiative is anticipated to boost trade and investment relations between the two nations, easing travel for Chinese businessmen traveling to India.
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In July, India reinstated the issuance of tourist visas for Chinese nationals following a break of over five years, marking a significant step towards the normalization of ties between the two countries. China also resumed visa issuance for Indian tourists, including group travelers.
The revival of tourist visas is considered a pivotal development, as both nations began the process of normalization after a freeze in bilateral relations resulting from the military standoff in Eastern Ladakh in April 2020.
The halt of all tourist and e-visas commenced with the COVID-19 pandemic and continued due to the Ladakh standoff.
This standoff led to a significant deterioration in India-China relations. They began to mend ties following a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping during the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, last year.
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The two leaders convened again in Tianjin this year during the SCO summit in August, after which the first group of Indian pilgrims traveled to Kailash Manasarovar in Tibet, and flights connecting several cities in both nations were resumed after over five years.
(Edited by : Jerome Anthony)
