India beginning to issue tourist visas to Chinese nationals after a gap of five years is much more than a bureaucratic gesture. It is a diplomatic signal to improve relations.
China has started building a huge hydropower project on the Yarlung Tsangpo River called Brahmaputra in India near the Nyingchi region in Tibet, close to Arunachal Pradesh. It plans to build five dams to generate massive amounts of electricity more than the Three Gorges Dam.
Tourist visas have started to be issued by the Indian government after a gap of five years. This news was issued by the Indian Embassy in Beijing on Wednesday. The Chinese Ministry of Affairs called this a “positive” decision, calling it marks another step in normalising India-China ties ruptured by the military standoff at the Line of Actual Control and Galwan clashes in 2020.
A mega-dam is being built by China on a river through Tibet and India, with Premier Li Qiang attending the commencement ceremony. However, this mega-dam can have a potential impact on millions of people in India and Bangladesh.
These range from ministerial visits to revival of direct flights and pilgrimages. To call a spade by no other name, necessity rather than mutual goodwill seems to be at work.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar recently embarked on a significant diplomatic mission to Singapore and China, visiting both countries from July 13 to 15.
The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, will soon be celebrating his 90th birthday. The attention however is on something else. There has been talks of the Dalai Lama potentially announcing his successor, a decision of profound spiritual and geopolitical importance, before he celebrates.
A little more than a week after disassociating itself from a statement by the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) condemning Israel’s attacks on Iran, India joined other members of Brics in expressing grave concern at the military strikes on Iran and the escalation of the security situation in the Middle East.
