India, China agree to resume Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, direct flights

India and China have agreed to resume direct flights between the two nations and the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, as part of a broader agreement to facilitate movement of people that was stopped in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and the border clash in Galwan.

The decisions were announced after talks between India’s foreign secretary Vikram Mistry and Chinese vice minister, in Beijing, on Monday.

While Beijing has conceded India’s demand for resumption of Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, India has given an in-principle nod to the Chinese request to resume direct flights between the two nations. 

A foreign ministry release said the India-China expert-level mechanism will also discuss the resumption of bilateral exchange of hydrological data on transborder rivers, especially in the light of the proposed construction of a super dam across the Yamuna River by China.

The relevant authorities will now discuss the mechanism and other technical details of resuming communication and transportation links between the two nations. 

Besides people-to-people exchanges, the two sides have agreed to resume discussions on a whole lot of issues, including areas of priority for each other as also address concerns in the areas of trade and economy. The idea is to bring in transparency and policy predictability to promote bilateral transactions.

Earlier, during a meeting with Mistry, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi stressed the need for better understanding between the two countries, ending “suspicion, alienation and mutual depletion” and instead explore avenues of mutual interest.

Prior to the halting of air services between the two countries, Air India and IndiGo were operating flights to China. While Air India had been operating services to China from 2003, IndiGo started flying to China in October 2019 connecting Delhi to Chengdu and Kolkata with Guangzhou.

Besides Chinese carriers, several foreign airlines operate flights connecting the two countries. Travellers from India are now dependent on air services operated by third country carriers such as Thai Airways, Singapore Airlines, or Cathay Pacific to travel to China for trade, business or tour.

China, however, remains India’s largest trading partner, with bilateral trade reaching $101.73 billion in FY24.