China Calls Resumption Of Direct Flights With India A 'Positive Step'

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 sides faithfully act on the important common understandings reached between President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Tianjin on August 31," Guo said in response to a question.

It's also an active move that facilitates the friendly exchanges of over 2.8 billion Chinese and Indian people, he said.

Narendra Modi and Xi Jinping 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.

"China stands ready to work with India to view and handle bilateral relations from a strategic and long-term perspective, be friends enjoying good-neighbourliness and partners helping each other succeed, and realise a cooperative pas de deux of the dragon and the elephant so as to deliver more tangibly for the two peoples and make due contributions to upholding peace and prosperity in Asia and beyond," he said.

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 said in a recent 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.

During the Tianjin meeting with President Xi Jinping 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, PM Modi and Xi Jinping held talks in Kazan and took several 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.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)