Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

Speculation has been mounting that a solution to the Sino-Indian border disputes is coming after Indian Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj claimed that the Indian government "is committed to exploring an early settlement on the India-China border issue" during her recent visit in China, adding that the strong leaders from the two countries are "keen on an out-of-box solution."

However, it might be too soon to anticipate that this solution will be reached in May during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first visit to China since assuming office, because New Delhi is actually showing a tougher attitude and more reservations over this issue.

For example, before he was elected, Modi once said "no power on earth can take away even an inch from India" during a speech at a rally in northeast India. Such toughness has become more obvious in recent moves.

India's regular patrolling along the border areas has been stepped up, and a massive infrastructure program has been launched in these areas. Under such circumstances, more patience is needed for a breakthrough of the solution.

However, since Swaraj has raised that the upcoming state visit of Modi will be "an action-oriented visit," and will narrow down areas of differences in order to resolve the border dispute, India is making efforts in showing flexibility and creating a favorable atmosphere on resolving the issue.

If there is an "out-of-box solution," it is likely a breakthrough over the eastern part of the border, which contains the most controversial area between China and India. Take the illegal McMahon Line, which is at the heart of the boundary dispute. The line running through the eastern Himalayas is a unilateral boundary created by Henry McMahon, a colonial official of British India at the time.

This is a line that China has never accepted. If India won't make adjustments over the line, there will be no suggestion whatsoever that the two sides are any closer to agreeing.

However, to this day, the Indian government has not given us a reply or any signal of goodwill for adjustment over this issue. In the light of this, the ball is in India's court to adopt a more proactive approach.

During the talks between Swaraj and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, both sides reached a consensus that the resolution of the border dispute should not be left to future generations, which shows the eagerness from both sides to end this long-standing controversy.

As a matter of fact, according to Swaraj, the Sino-Indian ties have reached "a level where we have interactions in fields that could not have been imagined some years ago."

As ties grow closer, both countries should be more inclined to resolve all unsettled issues, and not let those problems become an obstacle of deepening the bilateral relations or sabotage the big picture.

China has been always committed to resolve the border dispute with great sincerity, and the Chinese government used to offer a "package proposal" for settling the issue, which requires each side to make a compromise, yet it was turned down by India. Therefore, we have brought forward the idea of working hard together and moving toward the same direction, because we feel that India has not kept up the pace with China. We hope that the two parties can reach a consensus based on not only mutual understanding and accommodation, but also a strong will of showing flexibility as well as innovation in the near future.

Now that Swaraj has put forward the potential "out-of-box solution" this time, we have every reason to expect that the logjam could be broken and a new beginning could be made. But it remains to be seen what dedication Modi will put into a practical settlement for the bitter territorial dispute.

The article was compiled by Global Times reporter Li Aixin based on an interview with Lan Jianxue, an associate research fellow with the China Institute of International Studies. liaixin@globaltimes.com.cn