Nathula Pass

Seven people, including a child and a woman, have been killed and many others are feared trapped under snow after a massive avalanche near Sikkim's Nathu La mountain pass today.

The Kailash Mansarovar Yatra and border trade between India and China through the Nathula pass will not take place this year due to the coronavirus outbreak, Sikkim Tourism Minister BS Panth said.

The stranded tourists in Sikkim have been provided food, shelter and warm clothes by the Army.

China on Wednesday said that it was open to discussing with India "the possibility of alternative arrangements through other routes for Indian official yatris who had planned to visit Kailash and Manasrovar via Nathu La Pass".

With China refusing to open the gates to the first batch of about 50 pilgrims scheduled to travel to Kailash Mansarovar through Nathu La in Sikkim, the devotees have returned to Sherthang after waiting for a week. The second batch of pilgrims has been held up in Gangtok.

Deep in the Himalayas some three miles above sea level, Indian security forces and Chinese soldiers gaze at each other through a barbed-wire fence while trucks carrying goods from both sides pass through a large iron gate that marks the border.

The Centre and Sikkim Government are aiming at having the first batch of pilgrims visiting Kailash-Mansarovar using the Nathula route in June 2015, an official has claimed.

Seven people, including a child and a woman, have been killed and many others are feared trapped under snow after a massive avalanche near Sikkim's Nathu La mountain pass today.

The Kailash Mansarovar Yatra and border trade between India and China through the Nathula pass will not take place this year due to the coronavirus outbreak, Sikkim Tourism Minister BS Panth said.

The stranded tourists in Sikkim have been provided food, shelter and warm clothes by the Army.

China on Wednesday said that it was open to discussing with India "the possibility of alternative arrangements through other routes for Indian official yatris who had planned to visit Kailash and Manasrovar via Nathu La Pass".

With China refusing to open the gates to the first batch of about 50 pilgrims scheduled to travel to Kailash Mansarovar through Nathu La in Sikkim, the devotees have returned to Sherthang after waiting for a week. The second batch of pilgrims has been held up in Gangtok.

Deep in the Himalayas some three miles above sea level, Indian security forces and Chinese soldiers gaze at each other through a barbed-wire fence while trucks carrying goods from both sides pass through a large iron gate that marks the border.

The Centre and Sikkim Government are aiming at having the first batch of pilgrims visiting Kailash-Mansarovar using the Nathula route in June 2015, an official has claimed.