The peaceful resolution of the "tent confrontation" points to the maturing of India-China relations, and that both sides have the will and confidence to dissolve the crisis bilaterally and prevent it from acquiring dangerous proportions.

But it also shows that India-China relations remains "fragile" and the hyper sensitive nature of the border issue remains at the core of mutual suspicion.

It almost jeopardized the visit of Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid to China and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's trip to India.

The existing mechanisms have been effective in maintaining the peace and tranquility along the border in the last two decades or so, but these fall short of finding a permanent solution to the border issue.

The Line of Actual Control, a temporary solution following the border war of 1961, cannot last forever.

These incidents will continue to happen while the border remains undefined and undemarcated on the ground. India and China must both show political will and resolve, and reach an agreeable resolution of the border as soon as possible.

The face-off also demonstrates that both nations do not want the border to be an irritant in developing bilateral relations in other areas.

Here again a lot has to be done by both governments. For example, China needs to open its markets for Indian pharmaceutical and IT products, and allay some of the Indian concerns related to the trade deficit. India, on the other hand, needs to open its market for greater Chinese investment in infrastructure, power and telecom.

As far as people-to-people exchanges are concerned, both India and China need to substantially enhance the number of scholarships. At present there are a very limited number of scholarships available.

In this regard, the visit of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is extremely important, especially since it is his first in this office.

India has reciprocated to these positive signals emanating from Beijing positively. That Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid set Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's India visit above the border standoff, and also that India dispatched a defense delegation to China to work out the details of forthcoming military exercises, show that India is serious in maintaining good neighboring relations with China.

In order to build a real strategic partnership, both countries should keep the momentum of the visits at the highest level, diversify their relations in other fields substantially, and try to find a reasonable solution to the border issue. 

B.R. Deepak, a professor of Chinese and China Studies in Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi