India and China resumed direct flights on Sunday, marking a significant step toward rebuilding ties between Asia’s two most populous nations after a five-year hiatus.
The first flight, operated by India’s largest carrier, IndiGo, departed Kolkata for Guangzhou at 10:00 pm IST (1630 GMT), restoring a crucial people-to-people and business link that was initially suspended by the Covid-19 pandemic and later strained by a deadly border clash in 2020.
There are already regular flights between India and Hong Kong, with additional services from the capital, New Delhi, to Shanghai and Guangzhou set to begin in November.
Flight resumption comes amid improving ties
The resumption comes amid a gradual thaw in relations that had been hit due to the border standoff between the two. India and China remain strategic rivals competing for regional influence, but ties have eased gradually since the deadly Galwan border clash of 2020.
- Additional services from New Delhi to Shanghai and Guangzhou are set to begin in November, signalling a cautious but steady normalisation of exchanges.
- India’s government said the resumption of flights will boost “people-to-people contact” and aid the “gradual normalisation of bilateral exchanges”.
- Warming relations with Beijing come as India’s ties with its key trade partner, Washington, struggle, following US President Donald Trump’s order to impose 50 per cent tariffs.
- India’s eastern port city of Kolkata has centuries-old ties with China dating back to British rule, when Chinese migrants arrived as traders. Residents and business leaders welcomed the move, noting it will bolster tourism, trade, and family visits.
- This month’s Diwali saw soldiers from both sides exchanging sweets along the contested frontier, a small but symbolic gesture of goodwill.
- Trade has also rebounded between the two nations, as India’s imports from China surged to more than $11 billion last month, up over 16 per cent compared with September 2023, according to New Delhi’s commerce ministry.
- Exports from India to China were $1.47 billion, modest by comparison, but up around 34 per cent year-on-year.
“The direct air link will reduce logistics and transit time,” AFP news agency quoted Rajeev Singh, head of the Indian Chamber of Commerce in Kolkata, adding that it would benefit businesses.
