Among those affected by the floods in Nepal were pilgrims undertaking the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra. Revered by Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, and Bön practitioners (who follow Tibet’s oldest indigenous spiritual and philosophical tradition), the pilgrimage to Mount Kailash and Lake Mansarovar in Tibet is considered among the holiest in the world. Its location on the Tibetan Plateau, however, makes the journey particularly challenging, with pilgrims having to navigate high-altitude terrain. But for Indian pilgrims, whether the journey is possible has also depended on the state of India-China relations.One of the early developments affecting access to Tibet after India’s Independence was China’s military campaign in Tibet in 1950. The following year, the Seventeen-Point Agreement formalised Chinese control over Tibet, while promising to protect its autonomy and religious traditions.In April 1954, under Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, India and China signed the Agreement on Trade and Intercourse between the Tibet Region of China and India, popularly known as the Panchsheel Agreement. Under the agreement, India agreed to withdraw the extra-territorial rights it had inherited from the British in Tibet.Academics Raghuvendra Pandey and Jyotsana Sonal note in their journal article, “Pilgrimage across Borders: The Kailas-Manasarovar Yatra in the Context of India-China Relations, 1947–2025”: “Article 3 granted Indian pilgrims’ permission to visit Mount Kailas and Lake Manasarovar, while Article 4 listed six specific passes to be used for both pilgrimage and trade.” Pilgrims, diplomatic personnel, officials and nationals of both countries, however, were required to carry passports issued by their respective countries and visas from the other party.Pandey and Sonal add: “The agreement also recorded that China would construct rest houses for pilgrims and traders, and that pilgrims would have the right to hire means of transportation at reasonable rates.”Also read | Mount Kailash: How faith, geography and geopolitics shaped a modern pilgrimageBy the late 1950s, however, these provisions had begun to erode in practice. An informal note from the Government of India to the Chinese Counsellor in India on July 8, 1959, complained that Indian trade agents in Tibet faced restrictions on their movement and received little cooperation from their Chinese counterparts. In another instance, an Indian pilgrim was detained and searched for carrying a few medicines. Repeated baggage checks added to a growing culture of surveillance. “Tibetan religious activities in the region were then suppressed by the Chinese, and monasteries and other religious structures there were systematically destroyed,” writes historian Alex McKay in Kailas Histories (2015). Story continues below this adRelations between India and its northern neighbour continued to deteriorate, culminating in the Sino-Indian War of 1962.The 1962 WarThe 1962 Sino-Indian War had a major impact on religious access. The Kailash–Manasarovar Yatra was suspended, while traditional routes such as the Lipulekh and Niti passes were closed. For nearly two decades, Indian devotees were cut off from the pilgrimage. It took more than a decade for India and China to restore full diplomatic relations. China also began gradually easing some of its earlier restrictions on religious activity and opening up to foreign tourism. McKay writes: “Kailas was at the forefront of that process, credit for which is claimed by an Iyer Brahmin, Dr. Subramaniam Swamy.” Swamy reportedly raised the issue of reopening Kailash to Indian pilgrims when he met Chinese leaders in Beijing in 1978. The following year, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, then External Affairs Minister, made a landmark visit to China — the first high-level Indian visit since the 1962 war. During his talks, Vajpayee raised the question of facilitating the Kailash-Mansarovar pilgrimage.Also read | 52 km, 5,630 metres, half the oxygen: Why the Kailash yatra is an ordealIn June 1981, Chinese Foreign Minister Huang Hua, visiting New Delhi, announced that China would once again allow Indian pilgrims to visit Kailash and Manasarovar. The first batch of Indian pilgrims set off later that year via Almora and the Lipulekh Pass. Story continues below this adPandey and Sonal write: “The arrangements for resuming the pilgrimage in 1981 established distinct roles for each side.” India’s Ministry of External Affairs was responsible for the selection, medical clearances, and logistics of pilgrims, while China’s Tibet Tourism Bureau handled group visas, accommodation, and arrangements within Tibet.The pilgrimage was subsequently formalised as an annual, state-mediated process. Indian agencies, including the Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, became central to managing its logistics.A second route, and another closureThe importance of the pilgrimage in India-China relations was reiterated in a Joint Declaration issued in November 2006. It stated that China would provide greater convenience for Indian pilgrims and that the two sides would explore opening an additional pilgrimage route. A 2013 Joint Statement built on this commitment, specifically proposing a route through Nathu La Pass in Sikkim.Two years later, in 2015, the pilgrimage gained a second route through Nathu La. But the new route was soon caught up in diplomatic tensions. Pandey and Sonal note: “The route proved vulnerable to diplomatic tensions: it was suspended in 2017 during the Doklam standoff. Throughout this period, the Yatra remained closely tied to the overall state of India-China relations.”Story continues below this ad A view of the Kailash Parvat mountain from the Lipulekh Pass after Gunji near Dharchula, at Pithoragarh district, Uttarakhand, on June 18, 2026. Photo: Abhinav SahaMeanwhile, India was also improving access through Lipulekh. On May 8, 2020, the Border Roads Organisation completed an 80-km road linking Dharchula in Uttarakhand to Lipulekh on the China border. However, the new road could not be used for the yatra that year. That same year, the Galwan Valley clash in June 2020 pushed India-China relations to one of their lowest points since 1962. Following the clash, all routes for the Yatra were suspended.The Kailash-Manasarovar Yatra remained suspended for five years, amid the Covid-19 pandemic and the continuing deterioration in India-China relations. It was only in June 2025 that the yatra resumed after a five-year gap.Antara Ghosal Singh, Fellow at the Strategic Studies Programme at the Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi, told The Indian Express the pilgrimage remains closely tied to China’s approach to Tibet, as its control over the region is insurmountable. But its remote geography makes the region difficult to develop. “It is still the remotest part of China, so it is very difficult for China to develop Tibet,” she said.At the same time, Tibet remains economically dependent. “It doesn’t have its own economic pillars. This is where tourism, including the flow of pilgrims, becomes important,” she added.Story continues below this adNewsletterFollow our daily newsletter so you never miss anything important. On Wednesday, we answer readers' questions.SubscribeYet access for Indian pilgrims has remained tightly controlled. Singh points to the numbers allowed into the region over the years: “From 1981 to 2014, China had received 386 groups of official Indian pilgrims through the Lipulekh Pass, totalling around 13,685 people.” Another route through Nepal saw around 94,000 pilgrims during the same period, she said.The Nathu La route was opened later, but was closed following the 2020 border clash. When the yatra resumed in 2025, 750 Indian pilgrims were allowed to travel. “It is quite less,” Singh said.While India has also asked China to increase the number of pilgrims, “China remains conservative on that front”. Singh said this caution is also rooted in Chinese public discourse around the region. “They believe that Indians are trying to assert their cultural heritage on this part of China.”The challenges for pilgrims hoping to undertake the Yatra, however, are no longer only geopolitical. A changing climate is reshaping the journey itself.