After 5-Year Freeze, India and China Set to Restart Direct Flights

India and China will restart direct flights between designated cities this month, the foreign ministry in New Delhi said on Thursday.

The move, which points to a cautious easing of bilateral tensions, was originally discussed near the beginning of the year. It will end a suspension of more than five years.

There have been no direct flights between China and India since mid-2020, when the Asian giants fought a short and deadly battle on their disputed Himalayan frontier, even though China is India’s biggest bilateral trade partner.

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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited China a month ago for the first time in seven years to attend a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation regional security bloc.

Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed that India and China were development partners, not rivals, and discussed ways to strengthen trade ties amid global tariff uncertainty.

Modi also conveyed India’s commitment to improving ties and raised concerns about its widening trade deficit with China, which stands at nearly $99.2 billion.

He emphasised the importance of maintaining peace and stability along their disputed border, where a clash in 2020 triggered a five-year military standoff.

• Reuters with additional input and editing by Jim Pollard

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