'Critics say the political leadership abandoned the army chief or did not back him. I disagree. 'Military leaders are trained to take decisions when given a free hand.' 'This was a clear go-ahead from the prime minister to the army chief.'
Nepal has reiterated its claim over the Lipulekh territory, stating it is an inseparable part of the country, after India and China agreed to resume border trade through the area. The Nepalese government has incorporated the territory into its official map and Constitution. India has rejected Nepal's claims, asserting they are not based on historical facts or evidence.
India and China have announced a series of measures aimed at improving their relationship, including maintaining peace along the border, reopening border trade, and resuming direct flights.
A total of 750 pilgrims have been selected through a computerised draw for the upcoming Kailash Manasarovar Yatra in Tibet, marking the resumption of the pilgrimage after a five-year gap. The Yatra's resumption is seen as an attempt to normalize India-China relations, which were strained by the eastern Ladakh border standoff. The pilgrimage will begin in June and continue until August, with pilgrims traveling in five batches via the Lipulekh route and ten batches via the Nathu La route. The selection process was deemed "fair, computer-generated, random, gender-balanced" by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), which organized the pilgrimage.
China said that it had put off the visit of Indian pilgrims who enter Tibet via the Nathu La pass "for safety reasons" in view of the border issue.
While a giant, it's a nimble-footed one, and is growing at a speed that even some of its private sector peers find enviable.
Between FY18 and FY24, it doubled its balance sheet. Despite being a late entrant in some segments, it has been able to grab market share, observes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has announced that India and China have reached an understanding to resume the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra in 2025. While an understanding has been reached, the modalities of the pilgrimage are yet to be firmed up. The Yatra has been suspended since 2020 due to the COVID-19 outbreak and non-renewal of Yatra arrangements by the Chinese side.
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The exchange took place at five Border Personnel Meeting points along the LAC, the sources added.
Pilgrims travelling through the Lipulekh Pass in Uttarakhand will continue as scheduled.
Meanwhile, the Indo-China Traders Association of Sikkim (ICTAS) demanded an upward revision in the number of items to be exported by the Indian traders at Nathu La mart in order to make the business financially viable for the traders. A function would be held at Nathu La frontier to mark the formal inauguration of the annual trade on May 1 and thereafter, the traders of the two countries would participate in trade of various commodities.
Ahead of the opening of the Nathu La pass later this month, the government has finalised the list of items for trade with China from the border point between Sikkim and Tibet.
A befitting memorial for about 267 martyrs, who laid down their lives guarding the country along the Indo-China border in the post-independence period, will be inaugurated on Saturday. The memorial, which has been named 'Watershed', used to describe the border in military nomenclature, will be inaugurated at Sherathang, some 5 km ahead of the Nathu La border pass.
The Nathu La pass, which will open for border trade between India and China on July 6 after 44 years, may soon become an alternative to sea route with the government studying the possibility for normal bilateral trade through the land route.
India and China have reached a historic agreement to resume border trade through the strategic Nathu-La Pass from July 6 after 44 years of its closure.
China on Monday opened the second land crossing in Tibet via Nathu La to allow the first batch of Indian pilgrims undertaking the arduous Kailash-Manasarovar Yatra, in the latest confidence-building measure between the two neighbours.
A list of lesser-travelled destinations in India that you must explore this year!
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday announced in Beijing that the second route for the Kailash-Manasarovar yatra will become operational from June.
The long awaited-resumption of border trade between India and China through the Nathu La pass in Sikkim has been finally set for June 30.
Marking a historic occasion, Nathu La, the famous Himalayan pass at 14,500 feet on the Sino-India border in Sikkim reopened after 44 years this morning for trade between the two neighbours.
India and China have agreed to trade in 44 items through the Nathu La pass which re-opens on Thursday after 44 years since it was closed in 1962 in the wake of Sino-Indian conflict.
While Dr Manmohan Singh's government went over board and claimed credit for opening the trade route between India and China through Nathu La Pass, former Sikkim chief minister Nar Bahadhur Bhandari feels otherwise.
Keisha Santwan, 16, and her travel-obsessed family love the joy of exploring new places.
The reopening of the trade route through Nathu Pass will give boost to tourism and export-oriented activities, Pawan Chamling said.
The competition for the worst or most perilous 10 years has always been between the 1960s and the 1980s, points out Shekhar Gupta.
A team of the Central Pollution Control Board, which visited the fabled Silk Route in 2007, a year after it was reopened for cross border trade between China and India, found that expansion of the trade route was disturbing the ecosystem of the area. "Reopened with an aim to boost trade between China and India, ongoing expansion of one of the world's highest navigable roads is in progress without any precaution of the possible environmental impact," the Board said.
'340 PLA soldiers were dead and over 450 injured -- bodies were strewn outside the bunkers, tossed behind the lines, buried in trenches.' A fascinating excerpt from Probal DasGupta's Watershed 1967: India's Forgotten Victory Over China.
However, Beijing expresses readiness for talks to reopen the Nathu La pass for the Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday flagged off the first batch of pilgrims undertaking the annual yatra to Kailash Mansarovar in the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China.
The PLA said the move has 'seriously damaged' border peace and tranquillity.
Yadav struck deals with the Bahujan Samaj Party, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress whenever needed to form or save the governments led by him in Uttar Pradesh.
The tourists were returning from Nathu La pass and Tsomgo (Changu) Lake on Friday evening when snowfall in the region blocked roads, leaving over 300 to 400 civil vehicles stranded at various points on Jawahar Lal Nehru Road, East Sikkim District Magistrate Kapil Meena said.
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China also hinted that India was objecting to its efforts to build the road in Donglang area of the Sikkim sector on behalf of Bhutan.
Sitharaman had a brief conversation with Chinese soldiers during her maiden visit to the Nathu La border post in Sikkim.
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