India and China to Resume Direct Flights After Five-Year Hiatus

Thu Oct 16 2025 13:40:11 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

In a significant move towards normalising relations, India and China will restart direct flights this month, ending a five-year ban that followed deadly border clashes.

India and China will resume direct flights after a five-year hiatus due to border tensions. IndiGo, India's largest budget airline, will initiate the Kolkata-Guangzhou route from October 26. This development reflects ongoing efforts by both countries to mend ties after clashes in 2020. The resumption of flights aims to enhance people-to-people contact and facilitate normalisation of bilateral exchanges.

India and China will restart direct flights between the countries this month, India's foreign ministry has said, in another step towards ties being gradually normalised.

There have been no direct flights between the two countries since 2020, following deadly troop clashes on their shared Himalayan border.

But over the past year or so, Delhi and Beijing have been working towards re-building ties, including taking steps to de-escalate tensions at the border.

On Thursday, India's biggest budget airline IndiGo said that it would restart direct flights between the cities of Kolkata and Guangzhou from 26 October.

In a statement released on Thursday, India's foreign ministry mentioned that the resumption of flights would further facilitate people-to-people contact between the two countries and contribute towards gradual normalisation of bilateral exchanges.

India and China share an ill-defined border that is more than 3,440km (2,100 miles) long and have overlapping territorial claims.

In 2020, troops of the two countries clashed at the Galwan river valley, resulting in the deaths of 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese soldiers, marking the first fatal confrontation since 1975. This incident led to a freeze in ties.

However, over the past year, Beijing and Delhi have been taking steps to gradually rebuild their relationship, with high-ranking officials from both sides holding several rounds of talks.

In October last year, both nations agreed on patrolling arrangements to de-escalate tensions along the disputed Himalayan border. This year, China allowed Indian pilgrims to visit several religious sites in what it calls the Tibet Autonomous Region while India resumed visa services for Chinese tourists.

The deterioration of India's relationship with the US, exacerbated by former President Trump's tariffs, has also spurred India and China to strengthen their ties. In August, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Delhi, encouraging both nations to view each other as partners rather than adversaries.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also made a significant visit to China for the first time in seven years and met with President Xi Jinping, reaffirming their commitment to improving bilateral relations.