In what can only be described as a smart, forward-looking move, India has decided to resume issuing tourist visas to Chinese nationals—ending a four-year-long freeze triggered by both pandemic concerns and heightened border tensions. At first glance, this might seem like a routine diplomatic decision. But look deeper, and it reveals India’s deft use of soft power to recalibrate its strained relationship with Beijing without compromising its strategic red lines. The decision comes on the heels of External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s high-level meetings in Beijing with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi and Vice President Han Zheng. It’s no coincidence. Diplomatic signals matter. And India, while standing firm on sovereignty issues, is offering a hand of engagement—reminding China that cooperation, not confrontation, is the way forward in an increasingly unpredictable world order. Let’s not forget that bilateral relations had hit rock bottom after the deadly Galwan Valley clashes in June 2020, followed by continued Chinese transgressions along the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh. The visa freeze was only one of the many measures India had quietly taken to signal that business-as-usual was no longer an option. But times are changing—and so is the regional calculus. The thaw, however limited, comes against a broader backdrop of shifting global alliances. With the U.S. now selectively abandoning its old pawns like Pakistan, which finds itself isolated and irrelevant, China too has begun to reassess its priorities. India, on the other hand, is working with clinical precision to build multi-layered diplomacy—especially with Eurasian powers like Russia and China via platforms like the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). Resuming tourist visas may appear a small step, but in geopolitics, symbolism often precedes substance. China has welcomed India’s move, with its foreign ministry spokesperson calling it a “positive step” that facilitates people-to-people exchanges. On the surface, that sounds like bureaucratic nicety. But it’s a notable shift from the antagonistic rhetoric that dominated the discourse post-Galwan. It suggests that Beijing, too, sees merit in cooling the temperature. Especially as the U.S. tries to bait China in the Indo-Pacific, and as Russia reorients its own alliances post-Ukraine war, India’s measured engagement becomes a stabilising force.
It’s worth noting that in addition to visa resumption, the two countries have also revived the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra—an important cultural and religious link for Hindu pilgrims that had been halted for five years. Such steps carry significant symbolic weight. They underscore that even amidst military tensions, civilisational diplomacy can continue—provided both sides are willing to compartmentalise conflict and cooperation. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. India is not naïvely trusting China. Nor is it walking into a geopolitical embrace. What it is doing is keeping channels open—using strategic patience, cultural diplomacy, and calculated engagement. The visa move is not an endorsement of Chinese behaviour at the border. It is a message that India can be tough when needed, but gracious when appropriate. This decision subtly isolates Pakistan. Once touted as China’s “iron brother”, Islamabad is now a liability even to Beijing. Its collapsing economy, growing radicalism, and worsening diplomatic irrelevance make it an unreliable partner in the region. The trilateral coordination between India, China, and Russia—even if informal—can eventually help marginalise the Pakistani deep state’s influence on South Asian geopolitics. If India and China can sustain such calibrated engagement—without compromising on border issues or falling prey to hegemonic designs—it could rewire the strategic architecture of Asia. Jaishankar’s visit and the subsequent easing of travel restrictions signal a more mature, confident India—one that neither sulks nor submits, but leads with balance and conviction. Tourist visas might not win wars or end border disputes. But they do open a door—a door that had been shut too long in the shadows of Galwan. And reopening that door, even cautiously, is a wise step in the long game of diplomacy.
