The Ministry of External Affairs Wednesday shortlisted 750 pilgrims through a draw of lots from over 5,500 applications from all over the country for the upcoming Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, which resumes this year after being held the last time in 2019.
The pilgrimage starts from June and will go on till August. The computerised draw of lots was conducted by Kirti Vardhan Singh, Minister of State for External Affairs and Environment, Forest and Climate Change. “Yatris were selected in the draw through a fair, computer-generated, random, gender-balanced selection process,” said a statement released by MEA in this regard.
The selected pilgrims are informed of their selection through SMS and email messages, it added.
This year, 5,561 applicants had successfully registered online, which included 4,024 male applicants and 1,537 female applicants, the MEA said, adding that 750 selected applicants, including two liaison officers per batch, will travel in five batches of 50 each via the Lipulekh route, and 10 batches of 50 Yatris each via the Nathu La route.
“Both routes are now fully motorable, and involve very little trekking,” the MEA said.
Talking about the steps taken by the government to make the yatra more accessible and the process more transparent, Singh also urged the participants to undertake the pilgrimage with a sense of responsibility, humility and mindfulness, while caring for each other as well as protecting the sanctity of the environment.
On April 26, New Delhi announced the resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra this year. The annual pilgrimage stopped in 2020 in the wake of the pandemic and consequently could not resume as India’s ties with China went cold post the Galwan clashes the same year. Its resumption was on top of India’s wishlist since the talks to normalise the ties began in November last year.
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In fact, this is the first move taken after the disengagement process was completed in eastern Ladakh, where 50,000 to 60,000 troops are still stationed along the India-China border.
The pilgrimage to Mount Kailash and Mansarovar Lake in China’s Tibet Autonomous Region holds religious significance to Hindus as well as Jains and Buddhists.
The resumption of the yatra was officially discussed for the first time when External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in November 2024 on the sidelines of the G-20 leaders’ summit in Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro. It was again discussed at the Special Representatives meet in Beijing between National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in December.
The negotiations for the yatra picked up pace after Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri’s visit to China in January, where the two countries agreed in principle to resume it.
