ASIATODAY.ID, NEW DELHI — India has accelerated the issuance of business visas for Chinese professionals, signaling a significant thaw in relations between New Delhi and Beijing after years of diplomatic and economic strain.
The Indian government has removed most bureaucratic hurdles for short-term Chinese visitors, cutting visa approval times to less than one month, Reuters reported on Friday, citing two unnamed government officials.
“We have removed the layer of administrative vetting and are processing business visas within four weeks,” one of the officials told the news agency on December 12, 2025.
Relations between the two Asian giants deteriorated sharply following a deadly border clash in the Himalayas in June 2020, which led India to impose tighter scrutiny on visas for Chinese citizens, particularly business and technical specialists.
As a result, several Chinese companies—including smartphone giant Xiaomi—struggled to secure visas for their employees.
Stricter visa controls on technical support staff contributed to production losses estimated at USD 15 billion over the past four years, as India’s electronics manufacturers rely heavily on machinery imported from China.
The recent visa relaxation aligns with a broader normalization of bilateral ties. In July 2025, India resumed issuing tourist visas to Chinese citizens after a five-year suspension.
A month later, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited China for the first time since 2018, meeting President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit.
“Our relationship has taken a positive direction. There is peace and stability along the borders,” Modi said at the time.
Earlier this month, Beijing stated that China, Russia, and India are key emerging economies and central pillars of the Global South, underscoring the importance of their cooperation in shaping global stability.
Further signaling a reset in ties, India and China resumed direct flights in October after a five-year hiatus. Air travel between the two countries had been suspended at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. (RT)
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