China warns India: Resolve ongoing border stand-off or won’t allow next Kailash Mansarovar yatra pilgrims
New Delhi: China on Tuesday warned India that it may not allow the remaining six batches of 50 Kailash Mansarovar pilgrims each through the Nathu La Pass if the ongoing border stand-off in Sikkim remained unresolved.
China last week had denied the first batch of pilgrims on the Kailash Mansarovar yatra entry through Nathu La. The Foreign Ministry in a statement early on Tuesday said it was because of “security considerations” and “in light of” the border stand-off in the Sikkim section, media reports said.
According to the reports, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang on Tuesday said in a briefing: “Out of security considerations we have put off pilgrimages by Indian pilgrims through the Chinese pass.”
“So for the upcoming actions we have to depend on what the Indian side will do,” he said. “They have to take actions to improve the security situation.”
While 1,080 of the total 1,430 pilgrims will go through Lipulekh in Uttarakhand – the first batch is already in Tibet – the fate of the remaining 300 Nathu La pilgrims is still uncertain.
Lu said China’s government “has made enormous efforts to provide necessary convenience for Indian pilgrims”. “But recently the Indian border personnel trespassed the Chinese border to obstruct construction so we have taken necessary actions,” he said.
