Beijing: India and China are set to resume direct commercial flights later this month, marking a significant step toward normalizing relations that have remained strained since a deadly border clash in 2020.
The Indian Embassy in China announced on Thursday via social media platform WeChat that flights between designated cities would restart by late October, depending on the decisions of commercial airlines.
India’s largest airline, IndiGo, confirmed it will relaunch its route between Kolkata and Guangzhou starting October 26.
The move follows years of diplomatic frostiness after the June 2020 clash in the Galwan Valley, where 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese troops lost their lives. The incident, the deadliest border confrontation in decades, led to a complete freeze in high-level political engagement and the suspension of direct air travel amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, recent developments signal a shift. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited China last month for the first time in seven years to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit. There, he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, with both leaders agreeing that the two Asian giants should act as "development partners, not rivals."
India’s embassy noted that the resumption of flights is part of a broader policy aimed at the “gradual normalization of relations” between the two neighbors.
The warming ties come at a time of growing global trade instability, particularly stemming from aggressive tariff policies enacted by U.S. President Donald Trump. Last month, Trump increased tariffs on Indian imports to 50%, citing New Delhi’s continued oil trade with Russia. He also urged the EU to impose 100% tariffs on both India and China, increasing pressure on the two nations to strengthen regional cooperation.
Direct flights between India and China were halted in early 2020 due to the COVID-19 outbreak and had remained suspended long after the pandemic subsided due to geopolitical tensions.
With the resumption of air connectivity and renewed diplomatic engagement, observers say the two countries may now be entering a phase of cautious cooperation — one driven as much by economic pragmatism as by geopolitical necessity.
