Direct flights between India and China are starting again from today. IndiGo flight 6E1703 will take off for Guangzhou from Kolkata’s Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport at 10 pm on 26th October. At the same time, Delhi-Guangzhou route will also be started from November 9. This step marks the formal return of air connectivity between the two countries after five years. This flight tonight is not only a journey in the sky, but also a sign of a new diplomatic beginning, where relations broken after Galwan now seem to be returning on the runway.

During his meeting with President Xi Jinping in Tianjin on August 31, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that the resumption of direct flights is under consideration. After this, India turned the pages of diplomacy in such a way that now the direct flight is towards China. After the Galwan Valley clash in June 2020, relations between the two countries reached their lowest level since the 1962 war. After several rounds of military and diplomatic talks, both sides withdrew troops from many disputed areas of LAC.

The tension between the two countries had increased a lot. Then in October 2023, an agreement was reached on the last disputed points like Depsang and Demchok. Shortly after this, many decisions were taken to improve relations in the Modi-Xi talks in Kazan. In recent months, there were steps in the process of normalizing relations such as the resumption of Kailash Mansarovar Yatra. Now the resumption of direct flights is being considered a major link in this process.

Who will benefit from direct flights?

The commencement of India-China flights will provide relief to passengers, businessmen and students. Business delegations will get direct routes. Indian students going to China will save both time and money. Apart from this, there will be convenience in medical and religious journeys (Kailash Mansarovar). Because of this, there is hope of increase in import-export. The aviation sector estimates that if positive response is received, flights to various cities of China can also be started from Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai in the coming months.

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India-china direct flights: After the US imposing 50 percent high tariff on India, the relationship between the two countries can be seen. However, the then President Trump has also raised some hope by indicating on business talks. Meanwhile, India is turning to other markets instead of America and the second major economic power of the world is continuously emphasizing its relations with China.

Direct flight between India-China

In this direction, the Ministry of External Affairs has announced to start direct flight service between India and China in late October. IndiGo, the country’s largest airline, announced that flight would fly daily between Guangzhu and Kolkata from 26 October. Apart from this, there is a plan to start flight service between Delhi to Guangzhu.

Closed flights service after Kovid-19 epidemic

After the Kovid-19 epidemic, there was no direct flight service between India and China since the beginning of 2020. However, flight service between China’s special administrative area Hong Kong and India is still available. According to civil aviation sources, Air India is planning to start a direct flight service between New Delhi to Shanghai by the end of this year, although its official announcement is yet to be done.

Before the Korona epidemic, only Indigo and Air India used to provide flight service between India and China. Apart from this, after a clash in Galwan of Ladakh in 2020, direct flight services between the two countries remained closed for a long time. There were several level of talks between the two countries and an attempt was made to fix the tension. But during this time air connectivity between the two countries was not yet done.

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