India and China resume direct flights as ties improve
India and China resume direct flights as ties improve
Passengers of the first direct flight between India and China in five years touched down on Monday, after Asia's giants lifted a long-term air travel suspension as they cautiously rebuild relations.
IndiGo flight 6E1703 from Kolkata touched down in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou shortly before 4:00 a.m., officially resuming nonstop air links that had been suspended since 2020 due to the pandemic and subsequent geopolitical tensions.
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Ground staff walk past an Indigo airlines aircraft taxiing in the apron at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International airport in Kolkata on Feb. 1, 2024. Photo by AFP |
The neighbors and world's two most populous nations remain strategic rivals competing for regional influence, but ties have eased gradually since a deadly Himalayan border clash in 2020.