Xi announces new route to Kailash-Mansarovar

Pilgrims on their trek around Mount Kailash (at 4600 m).

Chinese President Xi Jinping made a special announcement on opening a new route for pilgrims to Kailash-Mansarovar in the Tibetan Autonomous Region.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked Mr. Xi on behalf of the people of India and said the gesture will enable a higher number of pilgrims to visit the shrine and will be especially beneficial to older pilgrims.

Earlier on Thursday, India and China signed 13 agreements even as the two leaders called for a speedy border resolution process. As reported by

The Hindu earlier this week, China also made a pitch for a civil nuclear cooperation agreement, and India has agreed to begin discussions on that.

Under the Memorandum of Understanding for Railways, both sides agreed to work on raising the speed and more cooperation on the Chennai-Mysore route as well as discussing the bullet train project.

Troop incursions During the talks, India raised concerns over the ongoing standoff at the LAC (Line of Actual Control) in Ladakh “and repeated incidents” along the border. While India has often raised concern over incursions and stand-offs by Chinese forces along the LAC, they have not been taken up quite as publicly during a high-level visit in the past.

Mr. Modi said he had raised other issues in “a spirit of candour and friendship” with Mr. Xi, namely China’s dual stapled visa policy and trans-border river issues, to which the Chinese President made no comment.

Mr. Xi did, however, make several significant announcements, including investments in two industrial cities in Gujarat and Maharashtra, as well as investments in projects to the tune of $20 billion. While the figure is nowhere near the high expectations of $100 billion predicted by officials, it is nearly 40 times the present investment levels of $500 million.

At a speech at the Indian Council for World Affairs, Mr. Xi said China would commit another $30 billion in the region for additional projects in the next few years.

(With additional reporting by Atul Aneja in Beijing)