India Stands Firm: Shuns China's Call To Resume Direct Passenger Flights

India-China No Direct Passenger Flights: China is trying to restart direct passenger flights to India after a four-year halt, but New Delhi shows no interest as a border dispute continues to weigh on ties between the two.

No Direct Passenger Flights Between India And China: China is trying to restart direct passenger flights to India after a four-year halt, but New Delhi shows no interest as a border dispute continues to weigh on ties between the two. India-China relations have been tense since the military confrontation in Galwan Valley in June 2020, when China tried to infiltrate Indian soil. 

Two-pronged Counterattack
India launched a two-pronged counterattack, one on the border, where the Indian troops inflicted heavy casualties on the Chinese Army in a deadly conflict and the other on the diplomatic front. Since the clash, India has made it difficult for Chinese companies to invest, banned hundreds of popular apps, and severed passenger routes. 

What does China want?
According to Reuters, a news agency, several times over the past year or so, China's government and airlines have asked India's civil aviation authorities to re-establish direct air links. Two people with direct knowledge of the matter told, with one saying China considers this a "big issue".

"We hope India will work with China in the same direction for the early resumption of direct flights," China's Foreign Ministry told in a statement last week, adding that resuming flights would be in the interest of both countries.

Peace & Tranquillity On Border First
But a senior Indian official familiar with India-China bilateral developments said of Beijing's desire to resume flights: "Unless there is peace and tranquillity on the border, the rest of the relationship cannot move forward."

Indigo's Statement
Indian airlines are holding discussions with New Delhi, while Chinese carriers are talking to their government about resuming direct routes, CEO Pieter Elbers of Indigo, India's largest airline, told Reuters.

No Direct Flight
Flights were halted four months later as the pandemic escalated. Now, both countries have lifted COVID restrictions on international air routes but direct flights between the two have not been resumed.

At present, those traveling between the two countries must change planes either in Hong Kong, which has a separate aviation regulator and border controls from the rest of China, or in hubs like Dubai or Singapore.

(Inputs- Reuters)