Flights Resume, But Are We Flying Towards a Mirage of Normalcy?

The skies between India and China, for a brief spell, felt a touch less barren. After a pandemic-induced hiatus, and, well, let's be honest, escalating geopolitical frostiness, direct flights are, in fact, back. Beijing, predictably, lauded the development, hailing it as a grand stride towards renewed cultural and economic exchange. And you could almost hear the collective sigh of relief from those hoping for a thawing of relations. But not everyone, it seems, is buying the narrative; not entirely, anyway.

Enter Kanwal Sibal, former Foreign Secretary, whose perspective on the matter cuts through the diplomatic niceties with a refreshing, almost blunt, clarity. For him, this fanfare around resumed flights feels less like a genuine olive branch and more like a carefully orchestrated performance — a kind of diplomatic sleight of hand. He argues, quite forcefully, that China is, in essence, trying to paint a picture of normalcy, a veneer of improved ties, without ever truly addressing the elephants in the room. And those elephants, frankly, are enormous, deeply entrenched along a disputed border.

Honestly, it’s a rather astute observation, isn't it? Because how, one might ask, can bilateral relations truly 'improve' when the very foundations of trust have been so profoundly eroded by continued military standoffs and, yes, territorial transgressions? Beijing's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning, might talk of promoting mutual understanding and cooperation, but Sibal’s critique is sharp: this narrative sidesteps the uncomfortable, painful reality of the border situation. It’s an attempt, he suggests, to create an illusion of goodwill, hoping, perhaps, that India will simply… forget.

In truth, the resumption of flights, while pragmatically beneficial for travel and commerce, doesn't, cannot, magically erase the deep-seated friction. India has been remarkably consistent in its stance: peace and tranquility along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) aren't just desirable; they are, for all intents and purposes, the absolute prerequisite for any meaningful advancement in the broader relationship. Without genuine de-escalation and a commitment to resolving the border dispute, every other gesture, however well-intentioned or strategically calculated, will, you could say, feel hollow.

So, as the planes once again traverse the vast expanse separating these two Asian giants, one can't help but ponder Sibal’s point. Are we truly witnessing a step towards genuine rapprochement, or is this merely a tactical move by Beijing, a superficial gloss designed to distract from the more inconvenient truths that linger? It's a critical question, and one that, for now, remains suspended somewhere between the clouds and the very real, very tense ground below.