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Direct flights between India and China have resumed as relations between the countries appear to be thawing.
IndiGo flight 6E 1703 from Kolkata landed in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou on Monday, carrying about 180 passengers.
Flights between the two countries were first suspended during the Covid pandemic in early 2020 and did not restart after a deadly clash in a disputed Himalayan border area escalated tensions.
But the two countries have been steadily rebuilding relations, and last year they reached a landmark agreement on border patrols.
Indian prime minister Narendra Modi visited China in August for the first time in seven years. That same month Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi visited India.
The Indian government said the resumption of flights would “facilitate people-to-people contact” and help “the gradual normalisation of bilateral exchanges”.
India also resumed the issuance of visas for Chinese tourists.
At the Kolkata airport on Sunday evening, airline staff lit brass oil lamps to mark the resumption of the direct flights as IndiGo passengers checked in.
A senior Chinese consular official, Qin Yong, told reporters at the airport that it was a “very important day for the India-China relationship”.
One passenger said the direct connection would improve logistics and transit time.
China Eastern Airlines is set to launch a flight connecting Shanghai and Delhi in November.
