India and China are set to resume flight connections next month, people familiar with the negotiations said, as the world’s two most populous countries seek to reset their political ties.
India’s civil aviation authorities have instructed domestic carriers, such as Air India and IndiGo, to prepare flights to China at short notice, reported Bloomberg citing officials.
In January 2025, the neighbours agreed to work on resolving trade and economic differences, a move expected to boost their aviation sectors.
There has been no direct air connectivity between India and China since early 2020 following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. The situation deteriorated after military clashes took place in the Galwan Valley of the Ladakh region in May.
Relations have improved somewhat since October, when India and China agreed to ease their military standoff along the mountainous border and President Xi Jinping met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Russia.
Modi is expected to visit China to attend the two-day SCO Summit to be held from August 31 in Tianjin.
Modi’s first visit to China in seven years comes against the backdrop of US President Donald Trump aiming his trade-war guns straight at India, with a cumulative tariff of 50 per cent due to kick in on all goods from India exported to the US this month.
Modi’s visit to China “indicates that the ties between the two neighbours are gradually emerging from the tense period of recent years,” Qian Feng, director of research at Tsinghua University's National Strategy Institute, was quoted as saying by China Daily.
In July 2025, Niti Aayog suggested the Indian government relax regulations that mandate additional scrutiny for investments by Chinese firms arguing that the rules have meant delays for some sizeable deals, reported Reuters.
