Direct flights have resumed between China and India after a five-year hiatus.

IndiGo flight 6E1703 from Kolkata touched down in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou shortly before 4:00am on Monday (20:00 GMT on Sunday), carrying about 180 passengers. The flight is the latest sign that the world’s two most populous nations are cautiously rebuilding relations after several years of diplomatic cooling.

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India’s government said the resumption of flights will boost “people-to-people contact” and aid the “gradual normalisation of bilateral exchanges”.

Flights between the neighbouring countries were suspended in early 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic led to inflamed emotions. Deadly clashes along the shared Himalayan border have kept tensions high.

However, the reheating of relations comes as both countries vie with the foreign policy challenges emerging from the United States under President Donald Trump.

India’s ties with key trade partner Washington are faltering, with New Delhi seeking to persuade Washington to step back from punishing 50 percent trade tariffs.

Trump’s aides have accused India of aiding Russia’s war in Ukraine through oil purchases.

China is accused of directly supporting Russia’s invasion of its neighbour with weapons, while it is engaged in an ongoing tussle over trade.

Trump is scheduled to meet with President Xi Jinping on Thursday in a bid to avert an escalation of their trade war.

Thaw

The thaw between New Delhi and Beijing followed meetings between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Xi in Russia last year and in China in August.

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Following the 2020 border skirmish between the nuclear-armed nations, in which at least 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers were killed, New Delhi tightened restrictions on Chinese investments and banned hundreds of apps, including TikTok.

India then deepened ties with the US-led Quad alliance – also including Japan and Australia – aimed at countering China’s influence in the Asia Pacific.

But this month, Chinese and Indian soldiers stationed at the Himalayan border exchanged gifts of sweets on the Hindu festival of Diwali, “marking a gesture of goodwill”, said Yu Jing, spokesperson of the Chinese embassy in India.

The Indian Express, in an editorial after Modi and Xi’s meeting in August, said improving ties with Beijing “sends an appropriate signal” to Washington.

The newspaper added, however: “Managing an increasingly assertive China remains India’s long-term challenge.”

Regular flights already link India to Hong Kong. Additional services from New Delhi to Shanghai and Guangzhou will begin in November.