India, China discuss restarting direct flights, Mansarovar yatra

India and China decided to soon convene a meeting of their Special Representatives on the boundary question after a gap of nearly five years and inched closer to the resumption of direct flights as well as Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage, weeks after pulling back their troops from two face-off points in eastern Ladakh.

The next steps in India-China ties with a broader objective to stabilise the relationship figured prominently in talks between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi that took place on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro late Monday.

The two ministers felt that it was imperative that the focus should be on stabilising ties, managing differences and taking the next steps, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

It was the first high-level engagement between the two sides after the completion of the disengagement process in Depsang and Demchok along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.