India, China agreed to expedite steps to resume direct air services

By Anjali Sharma

WASHINGTON – Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri met China’s Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong on Friday who is on a two-day visit to India after reports that China provided diplomatic and military support to Pakistan during its recent conflict with India.

Both sides reviewed the developments in India-China bilateral relations since their last meeting in Beijing on 27 January.

They agreed to continue to stabilize and rebuild ties with a priority on people-centric engagements.

Mr. Misri appreciated the Chinese side’s cooperation for the resumption of the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra this year.

He noted the discussion in the April meeting of the Expert Level Mechanism for cooperation in trans-border rivers for the resumption of the provision of hydrological data and other cooperation, and hoped for progress on this.

They agreed to expedite the steps to resume direct air services between the two countries.

Misri hoped for the early conclusion of an updated Air Services Agreement.

Two sides agreed to take practical steps for visa facilitation and exchanges between media and think-tanks.

The Ministry of External Affairs said “’The two sides positively assessed the activities planned under the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and China and agreed to facilitate the same.”

Both agreed to hold certain functional dialogues, including in the economic and trade areas, to discuss and resolve specific issues of concern.

According to MEA, this was the first high-level interaction between the two nations since the brief conflict between India and Pakistan last month in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack.