China-India border area standoff eases

The peaceful settlement of this crisis is within expectations, as China and India have developed a relatively mature mechanism to respond to such emergencies, said Sun Shihai, an expert on Indian studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Beijing and New Delhi launched a mechanism for consultation and coordination regarding border issues last year. But ties have still been occasionally strained by territorial issues.

Sun said that resolving the border issue will be difficult because the disputed area is large, but maintaining peace and stability in the region conforms to the mutual interest of both countries.

Hua, the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, said both China and India want to preserve Sino-Indian relations.

"China and India should work jointly to achieve a fair and reasonable border treaty that is accepted by both sides," she said.

Pei Yuanying, a former Chinese ambassador to India, said recently that resolving the Sino-Indian border dispute, an issue left over by history, needs time and patience.

"Border standoffs are somewhat inevitable in the future, but they are only petty issues against the whole backdrop of thriving Sino-Indian relations," Pei said, adding that the point is acknowledged by both sides.

China is India's top trading partner while bilateral trade reached $66.8 billion in 2012.

In late April, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also downplayed the incident and warned against exacerbating tensions between Beijing and New Delhi.

"We do not want to accentuate the situation," Singh was quoted by AFP as saying.

Pei said that with successful alleviation of standoff this time, it will be easier for the two countries to manage border rows in the future.

AFP contributed to the story.