India and China are aware of the “very high political, economic and military cost of frozen relations,” he says. “China felt it had pushed India too close to the U.S. while India realized that it was losing its vaunted strategic autonomy by getting too close to Washington and turning Beijing into an adversary.”

China on Monday said Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit to India was aimed at working with New Delhi to deliver on important understandings reached between the leaders of the two sides and decisions taken during the previous round of border talks.