Senior diplomats from India and China used their annual Strategic Dialogue in New Delhi on 10 February 2026 to move mobility back to the centre of the two countries’ slowly thawing relationship. Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Chinese Executive Vice-Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu said the two sides will ‘continue to take practical steps for visa facilitation’, with a view to speeding up the issuance of business, student and journalist visas that still face lengthy security vetting.
Although neither delegation announced hard deadlines, officials confirmed that pilot measures trialled in 2025—such as shorter document check-lists for repeat travellers, paperless submission of invitation letters, and priority counters for large corporate groups—will be expanded to consulates in Mumbai, Guangzhou and Shanghai. The dialogue also acknowledged mounting pressure from airlines and exporters to modernise the two-decade-old bilateral Air Services Agreement. Both sides agreed to ‘work towards an early conclusion’ of a refreshed pact that would lift current frequency caps, allow additional gateways such as Bengaluru and Chengdu, and introduce seventh-freedom cargo rights that would let airlines pick up freight on multi-stop routings.
For multinationals the twin announcements are a welcome signal that the world’s two most populous markets intend to restore the mobility ecosystem that existed before the 2020 border stand-off and pandemic shutdowns. Faster visa processing would help Indian tech firms move engineers into China’s hardware supply chain while enabling Chinese manufacturers to send troubleshooting teams to Indian plants without weeks of lead time. Cargo and passenger carriers—currently restricted to a combined 45 weekly frequencies—say updated traffic rights could double seat and belly-hold capacity within 12 months, reducing costs on one of Asia’s busiest trade lanes.
![India and China Agree to Expedite Business-Visa Facilitation and Update Bilateral Air-Services Deal]()
Against this backdrop, services like VisaHQ can streamline the application process for both corporate and individual travellers. Its dedicated China portal (https://www.visahq.com/china/) provides real-time updates on evolving requirements, digital document submission tools, and status tracking, making it easier to adapt to the new facilitation measures announced by New Delhi and Beijing.
Policy analysts caution that implementation could still be derailed by security incidents along the Line of Actual Control or by new US technology-export rules that affect Chinese suppliers with Indian operations. However, the decision to ring-fence mobility from broader geopolitical frictions mirrors Beijing’s recent visa-waiver diplomacy with European and ASEAN states and reflects New Delhi’s aim of attracting supply-chain investment to meet its ‘Make in India’ targets.
In practical terms, corporates should watch for new standard-operating procedures that consolidate supporting documents across multiple visa classes and for notification of additional ‘e-visa’ categories that the two governments have been testing since late-2025. Travel managers are advised to keep internal mobility databases up to date; once electronic pre-clearance goes live, incomplete historical data could delay approvals even under the streamlined regime.
Although neither delegation announced hard deadlines, officials confirmed that pilot measures trialled in 2025—such as shorter document check-lists for repeat travellers, paperless submission of invitation letters, and priority counters for large corporate groups—will be expanded to consulates in Mumbai, Guangzhou and Shanghai. The dialogue also acknowledged mounting pressure from airlines and exporters to modernise the two-decade-old bilateral Air Services Agreement. Both sides agreed to ‘work towards an early conclusion’ of a refreshed pact that would lift current frequency caps, allow additional gateways such as Bengaluru and Chengdu, and introduce seventh-freedom cargo rights that would let airlines pick up freight on multi-stop routings.
For multinationals the twin announcements are a welcome signal that the world’s two most populous markets intend to restore the mobility ecosystem that existed before the 2020 border stand-off and pandemic shutdowns. Faster visa processing would help Indian tech firms move engineers into China’s hardware supply chain while enabling Chinese manufacturers to send troubleshooting teams to Indian plants without weeks of lead time. Cargo and passenger carriers—currently restricted to a combined 45 weekly frequencies—say updated traffic rights could double seat and belly-hold capacity within 12 months, reducing costs on one of Asia’s busiest trade lanes.
Against this backdrop, services like VisaHQ can streamline the application process for both corporate and individual travellers. Its dedicated China portal (https://www.visahq.com/china/) provides real-time updates on evolving requirements, digital document submission tools, and status tracking, making it easier to adapt to the new facilitation measures announced by New Delhi and Beijing.
Policy analysts caution that implementation could still be derailed by security incidents along the Line of Actual Control or by new US technology-export rules that affect Chinese suppliers with Indian operations. However, the decision to ring-fence mobility from broader geopolitical frictions mirrors Beijing’s recent visa-waiver diplomacy with European and ASEAN states and reflects New Delhi’s aim of attracting supply-chain investment to meet its ‘Make in India’ targets.
In practical terms, corporates should watch for new standard-operating procedures that consolidate supporting documents across multiple visa classes and for notification of additional ‘e-visa’ categories that the two governments have been testing since late-2025. Travel managers are advised to keep internal mobility databases up to date; once electronic pre-clearance goes live, incomplete historical data could delay approvals even under the streamlined regime.
