In a major diplomatic breakthrough, the direct flight connectivity between India and China is set to resume from October 26, after a massive gap of five years. The resumption of direct flights is deemed as a pivotal step in the path of resetting the Sino-India relations that had hit an all-time low, post the Galwan clash of 2020.
Government of India on October 2, gave a green signal to the resumption of direct flight connectivity. Accordingly, the flight operated by IndiGo will take off from Kolkata and will land in Guangzhou, China. October 26, is the first day of the winter schedule of the annual aviation timetable and flight services will commence from the day. Meanwhile, Air India is said to restart the flight services to Shanghai by the year end.
A statement from the Ministry of External Affairs mentioned, “It has now been agreed that direct air services connecting designated points in India and China can resume by late October 2025, in keeping with the winter season schedule to facilitate people-to-people contact between India and China, contributing towards the gradual normalisation of bilateral exchanges”.
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Soon after the statement issued by MEA, IndiGo announced daily flight services between Kolkata and Guangzhou. IndiGo also clarified that in very near future flight connectivity between the trading city of Guangzhou and New Delhi will also be resumed based on regulatory approvals. The portal to book the tickets for Guangzhou has been started from October 3.
As per the sources, with respect to the resumption of flight connectivity to India by the Chinese aviation carriers, there has been a delay in the application submission process to the government. Airlines such as Air China, china Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines and Shandong Airlines are yet to complete the approval process. However, it is said that Air China has sought the permission from the government and is about to resume flight connectivity from Beijing to New Delhi and later to Mumbai.
The disruption of the direct flights since 2020 had particularly affected the trading and business interests of small traders. Connectivity to China was only through a third country such as Hong Kong and Singapore. This was both time-consuming and expensive for the small traders. Thus, the resumption of flight services is considered as an advantage for the trading and business community. Moreover, the measure is a milestone in the normalization of Sino-India relations especially in an era of increasing geopolitical upheavals. Apparently, India and China has remarkable scale of trade and people-to-people ties benefitting both the economies.
India and China bilateral relations began to normalize gradually since the meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Kazan, Russia on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit. The bilateral relations further gained greater momentum since Prime Minister Modi visited Shanghai, China for the SCO summit in September this year. However India was very consistent in its approach towards China since 2020. New Delhi ensured that peace, tranquility and mutual respect in the border region is a prerequisite to restoring ties in other domains. Accordingly, with multiple rounds of military and diplomatic level talks once de-escalation and disengagement at borders was accomplished, gradual normalization in other sectors is also being achieved.
