(TibetanReview.net, Feb08’26) –India is engaged with China to explore the opening of an additional route for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra (pilgrimage), including the possibility of using the Shipki La Pass in Himachal Pradesh, reported the tribuneindia.com Feb 7, citing a government response in Parliament on Feb 6. However, China’s response thus far is stated to remain negatively inclined.
“It is the government’s endeavour to constantly improve the conditions for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra,” the Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh has said, replying to a question in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of parliament. He has added that India had in the past requested China to open alternative routes, including through Shipki La Pass. However, the Chinese side had cited difficulties in opening additional routes.
Nevertheless, “the government remains engaged with China on opening of an additional route for the Yatra,” the Minister has said.
Another often highlighted potential, more accessible route, located in Ladakh, is the Leh-Demchok into western Tibet. This traditional route when Tibet was independent, connects Leh to Demchok village and now runs through the Line of Actual Control (LAC) to reach Mount Kailash and Lake Mansarovar.
Singh has also said New Delhi remained in dialogue with Beijing on facilitating improved access for Indian pilgrims, even as the yatra had resumed through existing routes.
He has said the ministry had successfully organised the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra in 2025 between June and August through the two official routes – Lipulekh Pass in Uttarakhand and Nathu La Pass in Sikkim – in coordination with the governments of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Sikkim, and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police.
The Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, which is religiously important for Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and followers of Tibet’s pre- Buddhist religion Bon, faced disruptions in recent years due to the Covid-19 pandemic and border-related restrictions before its resumption last year.