The resumption of direct flights between India and China after a five-year suspension was hailed by arriving passengers Monday, a move important both for trade and a symbolic step as Asia's giants 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 COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent geopolitical tensions.
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.
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