Relations plummeted in 2020 after security forces clashed along the border. The violence, the worst in decades, left 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese soldiers dead, freezing high-level political engagements.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday that India-China relations had made steady progress since his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in October, guided by respect for each other's interests and sensitivities.

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.”