(TibetanReview.net, Jul24’25) – China has welcomed India’s decision to resume the issuing of tourist visas to its citizens from Jul 24, after a gap of five years, but its official media has called the conditions unreasonable. The move came as the two sides held the 34th Meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation & Coordination on India-China Border Affairs in New Delhi on Jul 23.
On Jul 23, the Indian Embassy in Beijing announced on its Sina Weibo account that “from July 24, 2025, Chinese citizens can apply for a tourist visa to visit India.”
China said it had taken note of this positive move, stating “easing cross-border travel is widely beneficial.”
“China is ready to maintain communication and consultation with India and constantly improve the level of personal exchanges between the two countries,” Reuters Jul 23 quoted China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun as saying.
Both the countries stopped issuing tourist and other visas after the Covid-19 outbreak in early 2020. Tensions between the two countries escalated following a mid-2020 military clash along their disputed Tibet-border area in Ladakh.
In response, India imposed restrictions on Chinese investments, banned hundreds of popular Chinese apps and cut passenger routes.
China lifted its visa restrictions in 2022, when it resumed issuing visas for students and business travellers. However, tourist visas for Indian nationals remained restricted until March this year, when both countries agreed to resume direct air service.
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China’s official globaltimes.cn Jul 23 called India’s move only a starting point. Therefore, while this “progress” is welcomed, it remains important to watch whether India will take more substantial steps in areas such as visa approval rates, tourist services and safety, and the possible relaxation of visa requirements going forward.
India should recognize that opening and facilitating tourist visas is in its own interest, rather than a “favour” to Chinese tourists. In competing for the Chinese tourist market, India has already fallen far behind neighbouring countries like Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives, the editorial said.
The editorial sought to make the point that “India should recognize that opening and facilitating tourist visas is in its own interest, rather than a ‘favour’ to Chinese tourists. In competing for the Chinese tourist market, India has already fallen far behind neighbouring countries like Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives.”
The editorial also called for the lifting of “unreasonable restrictions on Chinese students, scholars and journalists, as well as removing investment and operational barriers for Chinese companies in India,” adding these “must also be prioritized without delay by the Indian side.”
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India’s visa move came as Hong Liang, director-general for Boundary and Ocean Affairs of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Gourangalal Das, joint secretary of the East Asia Division of the Ministry of External Affairs of India, co-chaired the 34th Meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation & Coordination on India-China Border Affairs in New Delhi on Jul 23.
Representatives from the foreign affairs, defence and immigration departments of both countries attended the meeting, another globaltimes.cn report Jul 24 cited a press release by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs as saying.
The meeting is not merely a technical dialogue — it sends an important signal: Both sides are committed to using this mechanism to further implement the consensus reached by leaders of the two countries, stabilize current relations and steadily advance the improvement and warming of China-India relations, Qian Feng, director of the research department at the National Strategy Institute at Tsinghua University, has said.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said Jul 23 that the two sides reviewed the overall situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh. The development is part of the preparation for the next edition of the Special Representatives’ dialogue on the boundary question, noted the thedailyjagran.com Jul 24.
The decision to revive various dialogue mechanisms was taken at a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in the Russian city of Kazan in October last year, the report noted.
MEA has said India and China also prepared for the next round of the Special Representatives’ (SR) talks to be held in India later this year. Ajit Doval, National Security Adviser (NSA), will be India’s Special Representative for the dialogue, while on the Chinese side, Foreign Minister Wang Yi will head the talks. Wang is expected to visit India for the upcoming SR talks.
Last time the representatives from both sides met at the SR dialogue held in Beijing in Dec 2024. On the WMCC talks, the MEA has said the two sides reviewed the situation in the India-China border areas.