The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Thursday that India and China will resume direct flights later this month after more than five years. Budget airline IndiGo said it will start non-stop daily flights between Kolkata to Guangzhou from October 26, 2025. The airline is also planning to start a direct service between Delhi and Guangzhou soon after this.
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After the rapid decline in diplomatic relations after the outbreak of the Kovid-19 epidemic and the deadly clashes on the disputed Himalayan border, direct passenger flights between the two countries were suspended in 2020. Despite the stagnation in air connectivity, China remains India’s largest bilateral trade partner, although India’s trade deficit with its neighboring country is continuously increasing, which has reached about $ 99.2 billion.
The restoration of flights took place a few weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to China for the first time in seven years to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit. During the visit, Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping described the two countries as “not rivals, but development partners” and discussed ways to promote trade and economic cooperation amid growing global tariff uncertainty.
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At the same time, Modi raised India’s concerns over trade imbalance and underlined the need for “peace and stability” over the Line of Actual Control (LAC), where tension has increased since long military deadlock since the 2020 Galwan Valley Conflict.