Recently, India and China have started talking more, and this could lead to a big change for Indian airlines. Because Pakistan does not allow Indian airplanes to fly over its land, India is asking China if its flights can pass through Chinese skies instead.
Why is this needed?
A few years ago, Pakistan banned Indian airlines, like Air India and IndiGo, from using its airspace. Interestingly, foreign airlines are still allowed to fly there. This ban has caused major headaches for Indian flights traveling far away to Europe or North America.
Normally, the shortest route from North India to the West is straight over Pakistan. But because of the ban, Indian planes have to take a huge detour. They have to fly south toward Gujarat and Mumbai, and then cross the Middle East before finally turning toward Europe or America.
This long detour adds about 4 to 5 extra hours to the journey. Because the planes are flying much longer, they burn a lot more fuel, need to stop to refuel, and require the crew to work longer hours. All of this extra effort is costing Indian airlines thousands of crores, making it hard for them to compete with foreign airlines that can just take the shorter route.
The New Plan: Flying Over China
To solve this costly problem, India wants to use a new route. The idea is to fly airplanes over Leh directly into a Chinese area called Xinjiang, and then move on to Central Asia. While this path is still a bit longer than the old route over Pakistan, it is much shorter than the massive detour through the Middle East.
What are the roadblocks?
Even though this sounds like a great idea, there are a few big challenges:
Dangerous Mountains: This new route goes right over some of the biggest mountains in the world, including the Himalayas. If a plane has a sudden emergency, finding a safe, flat place to land is very difficult.
Strict Security: The Xinjiang area is heavily guarded by the Chinese military. China usually does not allow foreign passenger planes to fly through this sensitive zone.
Trust Issues: India and China still have unresolved arguments about their shared borders, which makes reaching an agreement complicated.
Will China say yes?
In the end, it is up to China. They might agree because they can make money by charging India fees to fly over their land and use their airports (like Hotan Airport) in case of an emergency. However, their military worries might cause them to reject the idea. For now, everyone is waiting to see if these talks will result in a deal that helps Indian airlines save both time and money.