The two sides soon resumed a dialogue, however, which led to then External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh visiting China in June 1999 and reiterating that neither country was a threat to the other.

This was followed by President K R Narayanan's visit to China in May-June 2000, and the visit to India by Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) Li Peng in January 2001, and Premier Zhu Rongji in January 2002.

Prime Minister A B Vajpayee visited China in June 2003 and signed 'A Joint Declaration on Principles for Relations and Comprehensive Cooperation' and 10 other agreements. And in order to give the border talks -- hitherto being conducted by bureaucrats -- some political direction, it was decided to appoint special representatives on the boundary issue. The Indian representative was the National Security Adviser, (Brajesh Misra, followed by J N Dixit and now K R Narayanan.) while Executive Vice-Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo represents China.

India also formally acknowledged that Tibet was an integral part of China. Subsequently, China agreed to acknowledge that Sikkim was an Indian state, and to set up a border trade point at Nathu La to facilitate trade between Sikkim and the Tibet Autonomous Region.

During Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to India in April 2005, the two nations reached an agreement on parameters and guiding principles for the India-China boundary question, and signed a protocol on Confidence Building Measures to sustain the maintenance of peace and tranquility along the LAC.

Image : Visiting Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee with Jiang Zemin, Chairman of the Military Commission and former Chinese president, June 24, 2003 in Beijing.