The Indian government has resumed issuing tourist visas to Chinese nationals after a five-year gap. The two countries have started to explore ways to amend their strained relationship due to border issues.

The Indian embassy in Beijing made the announcement on Wednesday via the Chinese social media app Weibo, according to international media. The Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Guo Jiakun, also said that the development was a positive move and added that China was willing to work with India to improve the facilitation of people-to-people exchange.

After the 2020 military clashes in Galwan Valley that killed at least 20 Indian soldiers, India suspended visas to China, along with restricting investment and banning several Chinese apps. India and China also suspended flights and visa services to each other during the pandemic, and they remained halted as political tension rose in the summer of 2020 after the clash.

The site of this clash was on the disputed border—the Line of Actual Control (LAC)—between the two nations. China and India share a border extending more than 3,440 km, along with some overlapping territorial claims.

India-China Relations Improve

However, now the relations between the two nations have gradually improved since 2022, when China began resuming visa services for Indians. Last year, there were rounds of high-level talks between the two sides, which reduced the bitterness in the relationship.

In June, India’s Foreign Secretary, Vikram Misri, met China’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sun Weidong, in Delhi to discuss resuming direct flights, sharing data on transnational rivers, and improving people-centric engagement. As a result, the Chinese government issued 85,000 visas to Indians between January and April this year.

Following this development, the Indian embassy said on social media that Chinese citizens could begin applying for tourist visas from 24 July in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. This move comes ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) defence summit to be held in China in August.

There are speculations that Modi might himself attend the summit, which would be the first visit by the Indian Prime Minister to the country since the 2020 clashes.