Open to talks on reopening Nathu La for Kailash pilgrims: China

The route was closed in June following tension over the Doklam standoff.

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India and China last month ended a 73-day standoff in Doklam area of the Sikkim sector that was triggered by China’s move to build a road in the border area.

China on Tuesday indicated that it is ready to continue communication with India over reopening Nathu La in Sikkim to facilitate the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage. The route was closed in June following tension over the Doklam standoff. Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Geng Shuang said, “The Indian troops illegally crossed the border, leading to the tension at the border. So the opening of the pass was suspended. China stands ready to keep communication with the Indian side in regard to the opening of the pass and other issues relating to the pilgrims.”

According to Geng, China had made efforts “against all odds” to facilitate the pilgrimage. “According to the agreement reached between the two leaders and based on the fact that the western section of the India-China boundary has been recognised by the two sides, China opened the pass to the Indian pilgrims,” he said. The Sikkim route to Mansarovar was opened in 2015. Asked about sharing hydrological data with India on the Brahmaputra and Sutlej rivers, Geng said that it was not possible as data stations in Tibet were being upgraded. Under a bilateral mechanism established in 2006, China is expected to share hydrological data on the two rivers during the flood season between May 15 and June 15.

“For a long time we have conducted cooperation on the river data with the Indian side. But to upgrade and renovate the relevant station on the Chinese side, we do not have the conditions to collect the relevant statistics of the river,” Geng said. He added that the Indian side was “clear” about China’s reasons and that China will start providing data again depending on the progress of the ongoing work. In August, the Ministry of External Affairs had stated that India had not received hydrological data from China this year. “For this year, we have not received hydrological data from the Chinese side,”

MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar had said. The hydrological data is used to anticipate the flow of water from the upper riparian states into India and Bangladesh and deal with flooding. China has been building major dams on the Brahmaputra river to generate hydel power. It operationalised Zangmu hydroelectric project in October 2015 and three more are under construction. While the dams raised concerns of water shortage in India and Bangladesh, which are lower riparian states of the Brahmaputra river, known as Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibet, China has said its dams were to generate power and not to store water. India and China last month ended a 73-day standoff in Doklam area of the Sikkim sector that was triggered by China’s move to build a road in the border area.

(With PTI inputs)

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