Direct flights between India and China will resume by late October, following an updated aviation agreement and months of lobbying from business leaders.
Air links were suspended in 2020 due to Covid-19 and the Galwan clash, which froze ties and led to app bans, but recent agreements on border patrolling have eased tensions.
Geopolitical shifts, including US tariffs under Donald Trump, have pushed India and China to normalise relations, even as New Delhi balances ties with both Beijing and Washington.
In another encouraging sign, Asian rivals India and China are gradually getting frayed relations back on track. The MEA announced on Thursday that direct air services between the two countries will be resumed by “late” October.
This was in the cards since the beginning of the year, but took time as an updated air agreement had to be worked out between the aviation sectors of both countries. Now that the technical details are smoothed out, flights will operate by the end of the month.
The resumption of direct flights was initially announced after Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri’s visit to Beijing in January this year. There was pressure on the government from business leaders of every segment, from large corporations to medium and small business groups, asking for air links to be restored. After months of lobbying since last October, this news will be welcomed by industry.
“This agreement of the civil aviation authorities will further facilitate people-to-people contact between India and China, contributing towards the gradual normalisation of bilateral exchanges,” the Ministry of External Affairs statement said.
Air links between India and China were initially suspended because of the Covid pandemic in March 2020, when travel came to a halt around the world. But gradually, as the travel ban eased, a military confrontation in Galwan on the night of June 15–16, 2020, between Indian troops and the PLA, led to the death of over 20 soldiers and a complete freeze in ties between the two neighbours. New Delhi banned nearly 250 Chinese apps, including TikTok. However, Indian business suffered as key ingredients needed by the manufacturing sector were no longer available.
But after an agreement on patrolling in Demchok and Depsang was finalised last autumn, friction has eased and Prime Minister Narendra Modi travelled to China to attend the SCO summit in Tianjin last month.
US President Donald Trump’s disruptive tariff announcements have sent shock waves through the international community and perhaps accelerated the pace for normalising ties between India and China. There is an air of uncertainty around the world and each nation is trying to hedge its bets. Donald Trump’s 50 percent tariffs on India were something India’s leadership did not see coming. They were confident that New Delhi had got the measure of the man in his first term and that his personal equation with the PM was excellent.
The warmth in the meeting between the Indian Prime Minister, President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Tianjin led to speculations in the West that India could switch over to the anti-Western camp. However, that is far from true, as New Delhi seeks to improve ties with China but is eager to get back in the good books of the US President. Chances are that a framework for a bilateral tariff agreement between India and the US will be placed before the end of the year.
