China hopes for headway after Narendra Modi & Xi Jinping meeting

Despite the border tensions sparked by the stand-off between Indian and Chinese troops in Demchok, there is a sense of cautious confidence in China that the straight-talking meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping could ultimately yield some headway on the intractable boundary dispute.

While the stand-off at Demchok and Chumar had appeared to somewhat dilute the bonhomie between the two leaders and the landmark $20 billion investment deal, Chinese officials said on Friday that they believed that more than usual straight-talk between the two leaders could pave the way for some movement on the issue.

The view among Chinese officials and analysts is that as a permanent solution remains unlikely in the near term, the focus must remain on managing the boundary situation.

Hopes for a final resolution are low as the view is that even the status quo - which would involve settling the boundary more or less along the LAC, with India giving up claims to Aksai Chin and China to Arunachal Pradesh - would be unacceptable to either side. China has become more assertive on its claims to Arunachal in the past decade, with the state referred

to routinely as "south Tibet" in official media. The Chinese view is that a solution would require "mutual concessions" - on both western and eastern sectors - and that no Indian government would be able to politically sell even a status quo solution.

It as yet remains unclear whether Xi will take up Modi's call to clarify claims on the LAC, which, analysts say, would enable better management of the border even as a solution remains far away.

Asked about the incidents, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei said he believed "the two leaders have pointed a way out for solving this problem". Modi stressed on Thursday the need for both countries to work quickly to clarify their differing perceptions of the as yet undemarcated LAC - the source of the recent incidents. At present, both sides patrol up to their respective claim lines, and most of the incursion incidents have occurred in areas where claims are overlapping.

Xi for the first time referred for both sides to "control and manage disputes", in addition to China's official stand stating the need to maintain peace and tranquility until a final settlement is reached, suggesting that the door may be open for a move to revive a stalled process of clarifying the contested LAC.