China and India are making progress in their border talks and are discussing ways to calm tensions, according to Chinese state media.

At least one side put forward proposals that were discussed during the latest round of military talks last Sunday, Yuyuan Tantian, a social media account affiliated with state broadcaster CCTV reported on Thursday, citing an anonymous source.

For the first time both sides said in a joint statement after the talks over the western sector of the Line of Actual Control, the de facto border, that they had continued discussions in a "constructive and forward-looking manner".

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But Indian media reports have said there is stalemate between the two sides and that New Delhi was frustrated by China's refusal to discuss a broader disengagement rather than specific flashpoints.

The talks were held four months after the two sides last met - the longest gap so far between the 16 rounds of commander-level talks following a deadly clash in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh in June 2020.

This year relations between the two countries have shown signs of improvement after years of tension following the Galwan clash and an earlier stand-off on the Bhutan border in 2017.

China's foreign minister Wang Yi and his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar have met twice this year - in March and early this month - prompting Wang to say the relationship had developed "momentum".

Lin Minwang, a professor at Fudan University's Institute of International Studies, said the positive tone in the joint statement showed the two sides "have made progress" in their border talks and were looking at the dispute "from a higher perspective".

He said the two sides have been adjusting their demands, adding: "The so-called 'forward-looking' manner in the statement shows that there is a more reasonable expectation from both sides for the revised proposals this time."

India's The Hindu newspaper reported that the two sides were close to an agreement on disengaging along one friction point, commonly known as Hot Springs.

However, it continued that India wanted to agree a comprehensive disengagement, but China's refusal to discuss other areas along the Line of Actual Control, including Demchok and Depsangm, had prevented further progress.

Earlier this month India reported that in the past two years the People's Liberation Army had expanded its troop accommodation capacity within 100km (60 miles) of the LAC from 20,000 to 120,000 - something India saw as a provocation.

Lin said the four-month gap between talks suggested that India was looking to "extract a higher price" as it moved to enhance its ties with the West.

"India is playing off both sides. On the one hand, it is walking close with the US and European countries, but it is also balancing its relations with China and Russia," Lin said.

Lin said it is unrealistic for India to push for full disengagement and China did not intend to restore the early 2020 status quo in East Ladakh because India had been encroaching on border areas for several years before the stand-off began in April that year.

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2022 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

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