Testing the waters
Beijing has by far been the dominant country in the region, but with India's emergence as a world power, besides its proximity to the US and Japan, China has been testing the waters on how India reacts to its aggressive stand. So far, New Delhi has done well in taking the Chinese challenge head-on as Beijing continued to undermine Indian security concerns.
However, Modi's visit and the reaction by the state-controlled Chinese media show that despite both countries refusing to relent on certain issues, soft diplomacy may have paid some dividend of late. However, only time will tell how this pans out over the long-term.