Resumption of India-China Flights: A Positive Step for Friendly Ties, Says Beijing

PTI, BEIJING, OCT 24, 2025 :  China on Friday stated that it is willing to view its relations with India from a strategic and long-term perspective, adding that the resumption of flights between the two countries from Sunday is a positive measure to promote friendly exchanges between their 2.8 billion people.

India had announced on October 2 that direct flights to China would resume from October 26. Following this, IndiGo said it would resume flights from Kolkata to Guangzhou, starting October 26, and from Delhi to Guangzhou, starting November 10, 2025. Chinese airline China Eastern announced that it would resume flight operations from Shanghai to Delhi starting November 9.

Asked about the resumption of flights between the two countries after a five-year break, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told a media briefing that it represents the latest progress in implementing the understanding reached between the two countries. He also emphasized that this move is a positive step to facilitate friendly exchanges between more than 2.8 billion people in China and India.

China is willing to work with India to view and handle China-India relations from a strategic and long-term perspective, promoting the continued healthy and stable development of bilateral relations. This, he said, will better benefit both countries and their peoples and contribute to maintaining peace and prosperity in Asia and the world.

Flight services between the two sides were suspended following the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and were not restored immediately due to the over-four-year border face-off in eastern Ladakh, which ended in October of last year. In his remarks during the Tianjin meeting with President Xi on August 31, Prime Minister Modi had stated that the resumption of direct flights was under consideration.

India-China relations had 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, both sides withdrew their troops from several friction points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh. In October of last year, the two sides firmed up a disengagement pact for Depsang and Demchok, the last two friction points.

Days after the agreement was finalized, Modi and Xi held talks in Kazan and made a number of decisions aimed at improving ties. In recent months, the two sides have taken several measures to repair relations, including the resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra.