External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj appeared her usual poised self on Tuesday as she flagged off the first batch of pilgrims for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra from the new and less arduous route of Nathu La, but restrictions imposed on presspersons in covering the event were perceived as an indication of her unease.
The flagging off ceremony was Ms. Swaraj’s first public appearance >following the controversy over her recommendation to the U.K. for travel documents for ex-IPL chief Lalit Modi . The Minister, who posted tweets to defend her decision on Sunday, has maintained silence since, even as the Congress has mounted a campaign seeking her resignation.
Ms. Swaraj spoke with satisfaction at having fulfilled a promise made a year ago to find a way for the aged and the infirm to undertake the pilgrimage.
Only photographers were allowed to capture the Minister speak as there were clear instructions not to let reporters into the Ministry.
Beginning her address to the pilgrims with an invocation to Lord Shiva, she said flagging off the yatra was one of her first public engagements after taking over as External Affairs Minister a year ago. “I am delighted to flag off the batch of pilgrims to Kailash Mansarovar today for two reasons. First, the promise I made last year of enabling elderly citizens to undertake the pilgrimage is being fulfilled and second, because I can see happiness on the faces of these people whose wish to undertake the yatra,” Ms. Swaraj said.
The opening of the new, motorable route through Nathu La in the Himalayas will enable those who cannot go on foot to Kailash was confirmed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to China.
“We held discussions with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi when he visited India. Our Prime Minister raised the issue with President Xi Jinping and the route was finalised. When I visited China, letters were exchanged and then when PM visited China he had thanked Mr. Xi [for the alternative route],”she said.
“Milestone in India-China ties” The new route, she stressed is an important milestone in India-China relations as it builds on an important aspect of diplomacy, people-to-people contact.
“People-to-people contact is of great importance in diplomacy and if it is through pilgrimage, it becomes even more important,” she said adding that several pilgrims who have opted for the new route must “have thanked China” for the opportunity to travel to what is an otherwise difficult and distant location.
Ms. Swaraj also assured the pilgrims that the government would monitor their safe passage to Kailash.
While two officials will accompany them, arrangements have also been made to ensure they face no difficulties en route .
A total of 18 batches, each comprising 60 pilgrims, will visit Kailash Mansoravar through the existing route of Lupulekh Pass and five batches of 50 members each will travel through the Nathu La route, beginning Wednesday, she said.
The Minister, who recently stated that her mantra in the past year in office has been to “stay away from the media and do your own work”, did just that when after posing for a picture with the pilgrims, she said “no comments” to a photographer who brought up the Lalit Modi controversy.
