NEW DELHI (Kashmir English): India and China will restart direct flights between designated cities this month, with IndiGo beginning daily Kolkata–Guangzhou flights from Oct 26.
The decision, announced by India’s foreign ministry, will end a suspension of direct flights between the two countries for more than five years.
China India’s biggest bilateral trade partner
The move also signals a cautious easing of bilateral tensions. There have been no direct flights between China and India since 2020, despite China being 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 in September for the first time in seven years to attend a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation regional security bloc.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Modi agreed that China and India were development partners, not rivals, as they discussed ways to strengthen trade ties amid global tariff uncertainty.
