India, China agree on better ties, but border tensions still persist

The language and tenor of the statements issued by both countries suggest a new cordiality five years after incursions by China along the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh

The agreement between India and China following Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri’s meeting with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong on the course of bilateral relations must be treated with cautious optimism. The outcome is in the nature of testing the waters, focusing on closer people-to-people contact, including the easing of visa services, the resumption of flights between the two countries, and restarting the Kailash- Mansarovar Yatra this summer. This agreement follows the diplomatic pathway established by the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Brics summit in Kazan in October last