India's move on Mansarovar irks China

New Delhi: In a major move, China has now lodged a strong protest with India after reports surfaced in June  that UN body Unesco was considering the “Indian part” of the Kailash Mansarovar landscape in a “tentative list” of possible World Heritage Sites, following a request from India’s culture ministry. “A strong protest has indeed been lodged just last week with the ministry of external affairs (MEA),” sources confirmed to this newspaper on Saturday. The Kailash Mansarovar, also known as Mount Kailash, is regarded as the abode of Lord Shiva, as per Hindu traditions. Sources indicated that the protest was lodged perhaps, due to Chinese territorial sensitivities on the matter since the actual site of Kailash Mansarovar is located in Tibet which is part of China and even recognised by India as being so.

When contacted, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) declined to confirm or comment on the matter.

According to reports, the “Indian portion” of the landscape in the state of Uttarakhand comprises “four major watersheds—the Panar-Saryu, the Saryu-Ramganga, the Gori-Kali and the Dhauli-Kali”. This is said to be part of the “larger landscape” of 31,000 sq km referred to as the “Kailash Sacred Landscape”, constituting the Mount Kailash and Lake Mansarovar in the “remote south-western portion of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) of China” and (some parts in) “adjacent districts in the far-western region of Nepal”. In April this year, the Archeological Survey of India (ASI), which functions under the Union Culture Ministry, had apparently sent the proposal mooted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests to Unesco, according to news agency reports last month that had quoted sources then in the culture ministry.

Incidentally, New Delhi has been sending hundreds of pilgrims for the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage to Tibet via two routes—one through Uttarakhand and the other through Sikkim—-and the pilgrimage is facilitated by the Chinese government. The fresh row comes just three months before India is to host Chinese President Xi Jinping in October this year for the second informal summit between the two Asian giants. It also comes just as Sino-Indian ties seem to be once again on a strong and firm footing.

As per reports last month, Kailash Mansarovar—-in the proposal—-is in the “mixed category” both as a “natural as well as a cultural heritage” and (the Indian part) covers an “area of 6,836 sq km while the area is flanked in the east by Nepal and bordered by China on the north”.