Tsari Yatra May Help Ease India China Tensions

The 23rd meeting of the Special Representatives (SRs) of India and China on the boundary issue took place in Beijing on 18 December last year. This was the first meeting SR meeting since the Galwan clash of June 2020.

The SRs – Ajit Doval from the Indian side and Wang Yi on the Chinese side – not only reemphasised the implementation of the recent 'disengagement' agreement' to ensure a return to regular patrolling and grazing in relevant areas but also reiterated 'the importance of maintaining a political perspective of the overall bilateral relationship while seeking a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable framework for settlement of the boundary question.'

It is extremely doubtful, however, if a mutually acceptable solution for the boundary can be found in the present conditions, especially with the current turmoil in the Chinese Ministry of National Defense and the Central Military Commission – two ministers and two CMC members have lost their jobs in the past two years. Further, there is little trust yet between the two Asian giants. 

However the SRs discussed various measures to maintain peace and tranquillity on the border and the Chinese statement even speaks 'of strengthening confidence-building measures (CBMs)'.

One possible CBMs is the revival of pilgrimage between the two sides.

A lot has recently been written in the Indian media about another example of a pilgrimage – the Kartarpur corridor between India and Pakistan; it is a mutual gesture of goodwill agreed upon despite the tough reality and difficulties of ties between both countries. The corridor on the Indian side starts from Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district in Indian Punjab before crossing the international border – the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur, Guru Nanak's final resting place, is across on the Pakistani side on the banks of the river Ravi.

Pilgrimage should also be explored on India’s northeastern border, as it has always played an important role in India's relationship with Tibet. It could provide a bridge between both sides of the Himalayas. The Panchsheel Agreement between India and China was signed in April 1954 and was an attempt to put the age-old relationship between India and Tibet in a legal framework. Article III of the 1954 Tibet Agreement says, 'The High Contracting Parties agree that pilgrimage by religious believers of the two countries shall be carried on in accordance with custom.'

After the 1962 Sino-Indian War, however, pilgrimage was stopped. But on 28 June 1981, then Chinese minister of foreign affairs Huang Hua told a press conference in New Delhi, 'The Chinese side has informed the Indian side that it will make temporary arrangements for a certain number of Indian pilgrims to go on pilgrimage to what the Indians call the Kailash Mountain and Mansarovar Lake. As for long term arrangements, we will discuss them with the Indian side through diplomatic channels.'

Since then, the pilgrimage has been allowed to take place, with ups and downs, stopping completely since 2020.

One of the decisions at the SRs meeting was to reopen the Kailash Yatra. If so, why not go a step further?

The Tsari Yatra

In the Tibetan psyche, Tsari has always been synonymous with 'sacred place'.

With Mount Kailash and the Amnye Machen in eastern Tibet, the pilgrimage around the Dakpa Shelri, the 'Pure Crystal Mountain', has, for centuries, been one of the holiest on the Roof of the World. Opening of this latter pilgrimage route could be considered as a CBM. The last Rongkor (yatra) took place in 1956.

After crossing the Tibet-India border, the pilgrimage used to proceed southwards along the Tsari Chu (river) and then turn westwards in the Subansiri Valley. The trek goes up to the last Indian village of Taksing before crossing again into Tibet, taking the direction of Yume in Tibet Autonomous Region, the first xiaokang (well-off) village adopted by Xi Jinping in 2017.

The southern leg of the Rongkor procession would cross the tribal areas of Upper Subansiri; this was the territory of the Nah and Mra clans of the Tagin tribe who lived downstream from the Tsari Chu Valley, around its confluence with the Subansiri at Gelensiniak and in Taksing.

The Pure Crystal Mountain

Even the finalisation of the modalities of the pilgrimage could be an exercise to build trust between India and China.

The 'Pure Crystal Mountain' lies at 5,735 metres above the sea in the Tsari area of southern Tibet; the Tsari Yatra used to take place every Monkey Year, and special years. 

Toni Huber, the foremost scholar on the subject, has written a great deal about the site of the pilgrimage, located in India and Tibet: 'The large-scale, 12-yearly circumambulation of Tibetan Buddhist pilgrims around the mountain known as the Rongkor Chenmo, had the character of a state ritual for the Ganden Phodrang (the Dalai Lama’s government). Pilgrims in this huge procession crossed the McMahon Line below the frontier village of Migyitun in Tsari district,' writes Huber.

During the 1914 Simla Conference, Frederick Bailey, who had mapped the area with his colleague Captain Henry Morshead, informed Sir Henry McMahon about the sensitivity of the issue and on their recommendation, a condition was inserted in the border agreement to reassure the Tibetans that the yatra would not be disturbed despite the fact that it was crossing into India's territory; further India always facilitated the smooth continuation of the Tsari pilgrimage on the Indian side of the border, at least till the last Rongkor in 1956 which passed off peacefully.

It was the only place on the northeastern border where religious considerations (and not the watershed) were accepted as the principle to delineate the boundary.

Visiting the area is in itself a great spiritual experience, but also adventurous. Till last year there was no road to Taksing and visitors and defence forces had to walk three to four days from the roadhead near Limeking village. The dense, almost impenetrable, jungle on both sides of the tumultuous Tsari and Subansiri rivers must have been, the experience of a lifetime for the yatris.

Nearly 70 years after the last pilgrimage, driving on the still difficult roads, one wonders how the pilgrims could survive without supply points, medical facilities or basic bridges to cross from one side to the other of the two rivers. 

The local tribal population (the Nah and the Mra clans of the Tagin tribe) had the reputation of being ferocious and were feared by the Tibetan yatris. Today, one finds only kind-hearted people; despite the tough conditions, they are extremely hospitable and live simply, though like everyone, they too, aspire to a better material life.

Why can the Indian government not propose to the Chinese a corridor circumambulating the Holy Mountain where people from both sides could perform the yatra again? 

The Shorter Pilgrimage

If India and China do not agree to the Tsari Corridor, another solution is immediately feasible; traditionally, there was a shorter pilgrimage around the Holy Mountain, the Kingkor was organised every year, but the route did not cross the Indian border.

The British intelligence officer, Captain Frederick Bailey, described the Kingkor thus, 'There was also a Small Pilgrimage ... We visited the temples. The largest was Pagmo Lhakang, down in the valley. It had a golden roof, and the principal image, that of Dorje Pagmo was studded with precious stones. A golden butter lamp was set before it.'

A Southern Kingkor, within India's borders, could be organized by the state government with the support of the Indian Army and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police.

In local mythology, many lakes, passes and peaks have a history which could be highlighted; it would open the area to many more Indian visitors and make known to the world the sacredness of these border areas and they could learn from the local tribes the importance of respecting environment.

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Originally published as Claude Arpi. 2025. ‘Tsari Yatra May Help Ease India China Tensions’. rediff.com. 2 January.