Indian envoy to China visits Tibet to review arrangements for Kailash Manasarovar pilgrims

Indian Ambassador to China Vikram Doraiswami is in Tibet to interact with local officials as well as jointly review arrangements made for the Indian pilgrims to the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra. This is his first visit to Tibet after taking charge in May.

Ambassador Doraiswami and colleagues from the Embassy arrived in Lhasa on Thursday (June 12, 2026) on a first visit to the Tibet Autonomous Region to jointly review arrangements made by local government authorities for Indian pilgrims on the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra, a social media post by the Embassy said.

The pilgrims are scheduled to arrive later this month. “The envoy met Zhao Peng, vice-chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region, who provided a detailed briefing on the facilities and preparations for the pilgrims,” it said.

He later attended a dinner hosted by Zhao Peng. Mr. Doraiswami, who took over as Ambassador early last month, has been interacting with the senior Chinese Foreign Ministry officials on the bilateral issues.

The yatra, which is organised by the Ministry of External Affairs, was suspended initially in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequently because of the military standoff between the two sides on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.

It resumed in June last year after the first batch of Indian pilgrims arrived at Manasarovar Lake in Tibet after a five-year hiatus.

The resumption of the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra was the first initiative taken by both countries last year after the revival of bilateral ties following the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping at Kazan in Russia in 2024.