India and China have agreed to resume direct air services after nearly five years, India's foreign ministry said on Monday, signalling a thaw in relations between the neighbours after a deadly 2020 military clash on their disputed Himalayan border.

Mainland China and India have not been connected by direct passenger flights for almost five years. But relations between Beijing and New Delhi have started to thaw after several high-level meetings.India and China agreed on Monday to resume direct passenger flights between the two countries,

Recalling the agreement between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping at their meeting in Kazan in October, the MEA said that the two sides “reviewed the state of India-China bilateral relations comprehensively” and “agreed to take certain people-centric steps to stabilize and rebuild ties”.

The move to resume air services came nearly five years after the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent political tensions halted them.

India and China agreed in principle on Monday to resume direct flights between the two nations, nearly five years after the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent political tensions caused a suspension.

China and India have agreed to resume direct flights, facilitate visas and restart sharing data of trans-border rivers as the nuclear-armed neighbors try to rebuild diplomatic ties that remained frosty for more than four years.

The relevant technical authorities on the two sides will meet and negotiate an updated framework for this purpose at an early date,” Indian foreign ministry says.

India and China agreed to resume the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra and direct flights, aiming to normalize ties post-border standoff.