India and China have agreed to resume direct air services after nearly five years, India's foreign ministry said on Monday, signalling a thaw in relations between the neighbours after a deadly 2020 military clash on their disputed Himalayan border.

India and China agreed to resume the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra and direct flights, aiming to normalize ties post-border standoff.

Recalling the agreement between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping at their meeting in Kazan in October, the MEA said that the two sides “reviewed the state of India-China bilateral relations comprehensively” and “agreed to take certain people-centric steps to stabilize and rebuild ties”.

India and China have agreed to resume direct air services between the two countries, New Delhi said in a statement on Monday after Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri visited Beijing.

Mainland China and India have not been connected by direct passenger flights for almost five years. But relations between Beijing and New Delhi have started to thaw after several high-level meetings.

China and India have agreed to resume direct flights, facilitate visas and restart sharing data of trans-border rivers as the nuclear-armed neighbors try to rebuild diplomatic ties that remained frosty for more than four years.

The decisions were announced after Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri held wide-ranging talks with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong in Beijing.