Overview

• The first batch of 36 Indian pilgrims arrived on June 26 at Mansarovar Lake before embarking on the 52-kilometer circumambulation of Mount Kailash
• The pilgrimage’s return followed an October 2024 meeting between PM Modi and President Xi Jinping at the BRICS summit, where both sides agreed to resume ties and disengage troops along the Line of Actual Control
• About 750 devotees will undertake the yatra this season in multiple batches routed through Uttarakhand’s Lipulekh Pass and Sikkim’s Nathu La Pass
• India’s Ministry of External Affairs oversaw a fully computerized, random and gender-balanced selection of pilgrims and coordinated logistics with Chinese authorities
• Authorities on both sides have upgraded facilities—adding biometric immigration checks, oxygen stations and acclimatization camps—to support pilgrims at high altitudes