Latest news with #Kailash-MansarovarYatra
India.com
5 days ago
- Business
- India.com
Trump's Tariffs, Xi's Handshake And Putin's Pipeline – What PM Modi Hopes To Gain At SCO Summit In China
New Delhi: With Washington's tariff hammer falling hard and regional diplomacy entering a turbulent stretch, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is heading to China for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit. It will mark his first visit to the country since the deadly 2020 Galwan Valley clash. Scheduled for August 31 to September 1 in the northern port city of Tianjin, the visit comes at a delicate moment. Not only is India navigating fallout from stiff new trade duties imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, but it is also facing scrutiny over its oil imports from Russia. Modi's presence at the SCO summit is being seen by many as an attempt to recalibrate India's strategic posture, especially as tensions with the West rise and ties with Beijing show signs of cautious repair. This is the prime minister's first trip to China in five years. While he last set foot on Chinese soil in 2019, he did meet President Xi Jinping briefly during the BRICS summit held in Kazan in October 2024. That interaction helped ease the freeze in high-level dialogue and set the stage for ongoing border talks. It also helped the reopening of the Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra, a symbolic step toward thawing relations. But trust remains fragile. India's decision to attend the SCO summit also comes just weeks after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh refused to sign a joint statement at a key SCO defence meet. The reason was omission of any mention of the April 22 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam, which left 26 dead, in the statement. Instead, the final document inserted a reference to Balochistan that was widely seen as a move pushed by Pakistan to paint India as a regional destabiliser. The omission did not go unnoticed in New Delhi. According to Indian officials, the document appeared tilted, with no acknowledgment of the human cost of the Pahalgam killings. However, in a surprise move the following month, China issued a strongly worded statement condemning the attack. It came after the United States officially designated The Resistance Front, a Lashkar-e-Taiba offshoot, as a foreign terrorist organisation. Beijing's reaction reflected a shift in tone, even if not in alignment. 'China firmly opposes all forms of terrorism and strongly condemns the terrorist attack that occurred on April 22... China calls on regional countries to enhance counterterrorism cooperation and jointly maintain regional security and stability,' said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian in a statement that caught diplomatic watchers off guard. Against this backdrop, PM Modi's China visit could carry more weight than just optics. Talks at the SCO will include 10 member countries: India, China, Russia, Pakistan, Iran, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The agenda includes counterterrorism, regional security and trade. With the United States hiking tariff pressure, there is growing speculation that New Delhi may be rebalancing (less reliant on the West and more open to multilateral blocs with Beijing and Moscow in the room). There is also the likelihood of side meetings between Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, adding geopolitical heft to the summit. Founded in 2001, the SCO has evolved from a regional security bloc to a broader platform for economic and strategic cooperation. But this year's gathering comes with unusual undertones: a terror attack still unresolved, trade wars intensifying and major powers reshuffling their alliances. For India, more than being a summit, the SCO is a test of how far it can stretch its strategic space between a China that shares a tense border, a Russia that supplies its oil and a United States that is tightening the screws on both.
News18
29-06-2025
- Health
- News18
‘Success Of Health Workers': PM Modi On India Being Declared Trachoma-Free Nation
Last Updated: Last month, India was awarded the Certificate of Elimination of Trachoma as a Public Health Problem by the WHO at the 78th World Health Assembly in Geneva. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday hailed the success of Indian health workers after World Health Organisation (WHO) declared India free of Trachoma, an eye disease. While addressing the 123rd episode of his monthly radio program, Mann Ki Baat, PM Modi said, 'I am delighted to share with you that WHO has declared India free of Trachoma, an eye disease. This is the success of our health workers. 'Jal Jeevan' Mission has contributed to this." He also mentioned about the International Yoga Day and said that millions across the country and the world took part in the celebrations. Addressing the radio program, PM Modi said, 'On June 21, millions across the country and the world took part in the International Day of Yoga celebrations. It began 10 years ago. Over the 10 years, every year his tradition has become grander than before. This indicates that more people are incorporating yoga into their lives." He further emphasised upon the resumption of Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra and the upcoming Amarnath Yatra. He said that the Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra has resumed after a long time, marking a significant moment for devotees. He also said that the Amarnath Yatra is set to begin from July 3, enabling pilgrims to embark on this sacred journey once again. 'My best wishes to those who are about to embark on these pilgrimages," he added. Last month, India was awarded the Certificate of Elimination of Trachoma as a Public Health Problem by the World Health Organisation (WHO) at the 78th World Health Assembly in Geneva. In October last year, the WHO declared that the Government of India had eliminated Trachoma as a public health problem. India also became the third country in the Southeast Asia region to reach this public health milestone. The government has taken various steps under the National Programme for Control of Blindness and Visual Impairment (NPCBVI) to eliminate Trachoma. Since 2019, the National Programme has developed a continuous surveillance setup for trachoma cases by collecting case reports from all the districts in the country via sa pecific WHO shared format. The National Trachomatous Trichiasis survey was done in 200 endemic districts of the country during 2021-24, which was a mandate set by WHO.
Hindustan Times
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Kailash Mansarovar Yatra to be held June–August 2025: External affairs ministry
New Delhi: India on Saturday announced the resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra to the Tibet region after a gap of five years, another step in the normalisation of ties with China after the military standoff in Ladakh sector of the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The external affairs ministry said this year's pilgrimage will be held through Lipulekh Pass in Uttarakhand and Nathu La in Sikkim. The pilgrimage to Mount Kailash and Mansarovar Lake in Tibet Autonomous Region had been suspended since 2020, initially because of the Covid-19 pandemic and then the protracted face-off on the LAC. 'Kailash Manasarovar Yatra organised by the Ministry of External Affairs is set to take place during June to August 2025,' the ministry said in a statement. Five batches, each comprising 50 pilgrims, will travel via Lipulekh Pass, and 10 batches, also consisting of 50 pilgrims each, will cross through Nathu La, the ministry said. Applications will be accepted at the website and pilgrims will be selected through a fair, random, computer-generated and gender-balanced process. Also Read:India, China close to understanding on Kailash Mansarovar Yatra HT first reported on April 16 that India and China were close to an understanding on resuming the pilgrimage as part of the process of normalising ties after the more than four-year standoff on the LAC. The external affairs ministry said the entire process for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, from online applications to the selection of pilgrims, has been fully computerised since 2015. 'Therefore, applicants do not need to send letters or fax to seek information. The feedback options on the website can be used for obtaining information, registering observations or making suggestions for improvement,' the ministry said. The resumption of the pilgrimage and direct flights, which too were suspended in 2020, were among confidence-building measures discussed by the two sides since they reached an understanding on disengagement of troops last October. Two days after the understanding on disengagement of 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 to normalise relations. The resumption of the pilgrimage was one of the major asks of the Indian side. In January, foreign secretary Vikram Misri visited Beijing for talks with his Chinese counterpart Sun Weidong. The two sides decided at this meeting to resume the Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra and to take other people-centric steps to 'stabilise and rebuild' ties. The Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra is organised by the external affairs ministry, usually between June and September. The site in Tibet is of religious significance to Hindus, Jains and Buddhists, and pilgrims trek at altitudes of up to 19,500 feet in extreme weather and rugged terrain. The resumption of the pilgrimage marks another step in the slow normalising of bilateral relations following the standoff on the LAC, which began with skirmishes in April-May 2020. A subsequent clash at Galwan Valley in June 2020, which resulted in the death of 20 Indian soldiers and at least four Chinese troops, took ties to their lowest point since the 1962 border war. The Chinese side has been pushing India to act several measures aimed at enhancing economic ties, including resumption of direct flights and easing of visa restrictions on Chinese nationals. The Chinese side is also keen on reviving the practice of both countries posting more journalists in each other's capitals. Currently, there is one Indian journalist in Beijing and no Chinese journalist in New Delhi. External affairs minister S Jaishankar recently said that India-China relations are moving in a 'positive direction' though 'there is work to be done' to normalise ties.
