India, China to restart direct flights after five-year hiatus

In a move that signals a cautious easing of bilateral tensions, India and China will restart direct flights between designated cities this month, ending a suspension of more than five years, New Delhi’s foreign ministry said on Thursday.

There have been no direct flights between China and India since 2020, even though China is India's biggest bilateral trade partner.

India's largest carrier IndiGo INGL.NS said it would begin daily non-stop flights between Kolkata and Guangzhou on October 26. It also plans to launch a route connecting New Delhi with the Chinese city.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited China a month ago for the first time in seven years to attend a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation regional security bloc.

Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed that India and China were development partners, not rivals, and discussed ways to strengthen trade ties amid global tariff uncertainty.

Modi also conveyed India's commitment to improving ties and raised concerns about its widening trade deficit with China, which stands at nearly $99.2 billion.

He emphasised the importance of maintaining peace and stability along their disputed border, where a clash in 2020 triggered a five-year military standoff.