The number of Indian pilgrims eligible to participate in the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra organized by the Ministry of External Affairs and China this year stands at 1,000, an increase of 250 from the number for 2025.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Thursday that the Hajj is scheduled to be performed from June to August. The statement said that ten batches, each consisting of 50 pilgrims, are scheduled to travel through the Lipulekh Pass in Uttarakhand state, while another 10 batches, also consisting of 50 pilgrims, will travel through Nathu La in Sikkim state.
Last year, 750 Indian pilgrims were selected through a computerized lottery for the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra, which was organized after a five-year gap when India and China began normalizing their relations after the end of the military standoff on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in 2024.
The website kmy.gov.in has been opened to accept Hajj applications for this year. “Yatris will be selected from among applicants through a fair, random and gender-balanced computer-generated selection process,” the statement read.
The entire Hajj process, from submitting the online application to selecting the pilgrims, is completely computerized. Applicants can log in by registering on the website and submit their applications online. They do not need to send letters or faxes to obtain information.
Applicants can either choose both routes, indicating their priority, or select only one route. The registration deadline is May 19.
The resumption of pilgrimage to Mount Kailash and Lake Mansarovar in China’s Tibet Autonomous Region, which had not been conducted between 2020 and 2024, was among the confidence-building measures between the two sides after they reached an understanding in October 2024 on disengaging forces at the Demchok and Depsang friction points.
After agreeing to disengage the forces, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping met in the Russian city of Kazan and decided to revive several mechanisms to address the border dispute and normalize relations. One such mechanism – the Special Representatives on the Boundary Issue – focused on the resumption of the Kailash-Mansarovar pilgrimage and several other crucial aspects of bilateral relations.
The Hajj was postponed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and was later affected by the standoff in the Latin American and Caribbean region, which brought relations to their lowest levels in six decades.
The site in Tibet has religious significance for Hindus, Jains and Buddhists, and pilgrims must trek at altitudes of up to 19,500 feet in harsh weather conditions and rugged terrain.
