the current normalisation of relations deeply unstable.
This week, India’s private airline Indigo flew one of its A320 planes from Kolkata to Guangzhou. It was the first direct flight from India to China in five years, following its halt during the Covid-19 pandemic and the souring of relations between the two neighbours in 2020 amid the border standoff that extended the freeze. In November, more flights, including Chinese carriers, will take to the sky, connecting New Delhi with Chinese cities. The resumption of direct air services is part of the increasing number of confidence-building measures undertaken by both countries to move past a history of distrust and adversarial relations. A détente is seemingly underway. However, on closer examination, the embrace appears more cautious and fragile.Since the October 2024 BRICS summit in Kazan, where Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a bilateral meeting, both countries have made significant progress in stabilising their border. Although criticised by the Indian opposition political parties, who term it an ad hoc move that has cemented Chinese control over vast expanses of land formerly under Indian control, a process to start negotiations on the contentious boundary issue has been set in motion. The actual process may not yield much but it gives New Delhi more time to develop its border infrastructure to match that of China’s.
In recent months, both sides have unveiled more confidence-building measures. In June 2025, China acceded to India’s request to resume the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage, in which Indian Hindu pilgrims travel to the holy mountain and lake in Tibet. In August, Beijing also lifted the embargo on the supply of specialty fertilisers, rare earths, and tunnel boring machines to India. Reciprocating the gestures, India lifted its five-year-long restrictive visa process for Chinese tourists in July 2025....
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