India, China discuss resuming flights, no date set

NEW DELHI: India and China have held one round of talks on resuming direct passenger air services, but no dates have been fixed yet, New Delhi said on Monday, as relations continued to thaw five years after a deadly border clash.

The neighbours agreed in January to work on resolving trade and economic differences, in a move expected to boost their aviation sectors, particularly China’s which has lagged other countries’ in rebounding from the Covid pandemic.

“The civil aviation ministry and our counterpart in China have had one round of meetings,” Civil Aviation Secretary Vumlunmang Vualnam said at a conference organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce in New Delhi.

There were still some issues to resolve, he added, without going into detail.Relations soured between India and China in the wake of the 2020 clash between troops along their border in the Himalayas, which killed at least 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese.

India imposed restrictions on Chinese companies investing in the country, banned hundreds of popular apps and cut passenger routes, although direct cargo flights continued.

Relations have improved since an agreement in October to ease a military standoff on the mountainous border, the same month that President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks in Russia.