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.