Commentary: Is the India-China detente real?

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. 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. 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.