India-China ties: Both sides agree to reopen border commerce, resume flights – key details here

NEW DELHI: India and China on Tuesday agreed to reopen border commerce by three designated passes and resume direct flight connectivity, as a part of a broader push in direction of easing tensions and stabilising bilateral ties.The selections had been introduced after the twenty fourth spherical of the Special Representatives’ dialogue on the Boundary Question, co-chaired by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who was on a two-day go to to India. On his first day, he met EAM S Jaishankar. On Tuesday, he met NSA Doval and later Prime Minister Narendra Modi at 7 Lok Kalyan Marg, the place he handed over President Xi Jinping’s invitation for PM Modi to attend the SCO Summit in China.

Key agreements

Border Trade: Both sides agreed to reopen commerce by the three designated passes — Lipulekh, Shipki La, and Nathu La — to enhance cross-border financial exercise.Flights & Visas: India and China will resume direct flights on the earliest and replace the Air Services Agreement. They additionally agreed to ease visa processes for vacationers, companies, media, and different guests to strengthen people-to-people contact.Investment & Cooperation: The two international locations pledged to promote commerce, funding flows, and exchanges, and to restart bilateral dialogue mechanisms. This contains holding the Third India-China High-Level People-to-People Exchanges Meeting in 2026.Trans-border rivers: They agreed to strengthen cooperation by the Expert Level Mechanism and keep communication on MoU renewals. China additionally dedicated to sharing hydrological information throughout emergencies on humanitarian grounds.Global Cooperation: Both sides reaffirmed their help for multilateralism and a guidelines-based mostly buying and selling system with the WTO at its core. They additionally agreed to promote a multipolar world order that safeguards the pursuits of creating nations.The two sides held candid and in-depth discussions on the boundary query and agreed to search a “fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable” settlement consistent with the 2005 settlement on guiding ideas. They additionally agreed to arrange an Expert Group, below the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC), to discover “early harvest” in boundary delimitation within the India-China border areas.They agreed to “setting up a Working Group, under the WMCC, to advance effective border management in order to maintain peace and tranquillity in India-China border areas”.Both international locations famous that peace has been maintained alongside the border for the reason that final spherical of talks and confused the necessity for continued stability to help general improvement of bilateral ties.India additional reaffirmed help for China’s upcoming SCO Summit in Tianjin, whereas China welcomed India’s internet hosting of the 2026 BRICS Summit. In flip, India will again China’s internet hosting of the 2027 BRICS Summit.The two sides additionally agreed to strengthen cooperation on trans-border rivers, with China committing to share hydrological information throughout emergencies.The assembly ended on a optimistic observe, with each sides agreeing {that a} “stable, cooperative and forward-looking” relationship is of their mutual curiosity.