Resuming direct flights with India positive move to improve ties: China

China on Thursday described the resumption of direct flights with India after a five-year hiatus as a positive step, saying it demonstrated that both countries are "faithfully acting" on the understandings reached between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping to strengthen bilateral ties.

Speaking at a media briefing, the first since the Chinese Foreign Ministry resumed its regular schedule following the eight-day national holidays, spokesperson Guo Jiakun said the flights would resume by the end of October.

India had announced on October 2 that direct flights to China would resume from October 26.

This is the latest move that demonstrates how the two countries are faithfully acting on the important common understanding between President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Tianjin on Aug 31, Guo said in response to a question.

Modi and Xi had met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin and welcomed the positive momentum and steady progress in bilateral relations since their last meeting at Kazan, Russia, in October 2024.

Guo said China stands ready to work with India to view and manage bilateral relations from a strategic and long-term perspective, to be friends, good neighbours and partners who support each other's success.

He used a metaphor of a cooperative pas de deux (dance) of the dragon and the elephant to emphasise the shared responsibilities of China and India in promoting peace, prosperity and greater deliverables for the people of both countries and for Asia at large.

Chinese airlines such as Air China, which previously operated flights between the two countries, have not yet announced formal plans for resumption.

Indian carrier IndiGo and China Eastern will be the first two airlines to resume direct flights between the two countries, people familiar with the development had said. IndiGo had said in a statement that it plans to operate daily flights from Kolkata to Guangzhou from October 26.

"Subject to regulatory approvals, IndiGo will also introduce direct flights between Delhi and Guangzhou shortly," it said.

The flight services between the two sides were suspended following the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. They were not restored in view of the over-four-year border face-off in eastern Ladakh, which ended in October last year.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation had said India and China would resume direct air services by the end of October.

"This follows continuous technical-level engagement between civil aviation authorities as part of broader efforts to normalise bilateral ties," it said.

"The move will greatly enhance air connectivity, support people-to-people exchanges and contribute to the strengthening of economic collaboration between the two countries," it added.

In his remarks during the Tianjin meeting with President Xi on August 31, Prime Minister Modi had stated that the resumption of direct flights was under consideration.

India-China relations plunged to their lowest point since the 1962 war following the Galwan Valley clashes in June 2020. After a series of diplomatic and military talks, the two sides withdrew their troops from several friction points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.

In October last year, the two sides firmed up a disengagement pact for Depsang and Demchok, the last two friction points.

Days after the agreement was finalised, Modi and Xi held talks in Kazan and took a number of decisions to improve the ties.

In the last few months, the two sides have taken a series of measures to repair the ties, including the resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra.