TBM Staff - Mumbai China is urging India to resume direct passenger flights after a hiatus of four years, but New Delhi is hesitant due to ongoing tensions stemming from a border dispute, officials revealed.
Relations between India and China have been strained since a major military clash in June 2020 resulted in the deaths of 20 Indian and at least four Chinese soldiers, marking the most significant confrontation in decades along their disputed Himalayan border. Despite ongoing negotiations, both sides have maintained large troop deployments.
Following the clash, India has imposed restrictions on Chinese investment, banned numerous popular apps, and suspended passenger flight connections, although direct cargo flights between the two countries continue to operate.
Direct flights would benefit both economies, but the stakes are higher for China, where a recovery in overseas travel after the Covid-19 pandemic is lagging, while India’s aviation sector booms.
Several times over the past year or so, China’s government and airlines have asked India’s civil aviation authorities to re-establish direct air links, two people with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters, with one saying China considers this a “big issue”.
“We hope the Indian side will work with China in the same direction for the early resumption of direct flights,” China’s Foreign Ministry told Reuters in a statement last week, adding that resuming flights would be in both countries’ interests.
But a senior Indian official familiar with India-China bilateral developments said of Beijing’s desire to resume flights, “Unless there is peace and tranquillity on the border, the rest of the relationship cannot move forward.”
Indian airlines are holding discussions with New Delhi, while Chinese carriers are talking to their government about resuming direct routes, CEO Pieter Elbers of IndiGo, India’s largest airline, told Reuters. (Source: The Hindu Business Line)
