The Sino-Indian border is heating up again. A "tent confrontation" between the Chinese army and the Indian army has been continuing near the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

From an Indian perception, the Chinese army has invaded Indian territory, and this time is the most serious invasion in the past 25 years. Some Indian media outlets claim China has invaded Indian territory 600 times in the past three years.

The Sino-Indian border issue is very complicated, and even resulted in war in 1962.

That conflict became the excuse for India to bolster the military and develop nuclear weapons. The root reason for so many "incursions" is that the two sides have not reached a consensus on the LAC, let alone a formal border.

However, since 1993, China and India have signed two agreements and one protocol on the maintenance of peace and tranquility and confidence-building measures in the border areas, and have set up a working mechanism for consultation and coordination on border affairs.

These efforts have helped ensure durable peace and stability in the region. There is a very small possibility that China and India will fall into serious conflict.

Nevertheless, bilateral relations between China and India are very delicate. As well as the boundary problem, China-Pakistan relations, the Dalai Lama issue, and tension over water resources also hinder the promotion of China-India relations. These problems mean India has a deep-seated distrust of China.

With the US "rebalancing" toward the Asia-Pacific, the Sino-Indian relationship is seeing subtle changes these days.

Some Indian scholars trumpet an alliance under US leadership to counterbalance China. For example, Harsh V. Pant, a professor of defense studies at King's College London, argues that India's strategic interests can only be realized by an Asia-Pacific arrangement where the US retains its predominant status, while Indian Express columnist C. Raja Mohan advocates that India should shift its policy of strategic autonomy and strategically cooperate with the US.

So far, India has strengthened its "Look East" policy. It has enhanced strategic and security cooperation with countries such as Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Vietnam, and has taken a high profile in the South China Sea disputes.

In December 2011, the first trilateral dialogue between the US, Japan and India was presided over by the US, and one of the topics discussed was China's growing military and political global position.

It's no wonder many think that India may abandon strategic autonomy in order to ally with the US and contain China.

Currently, Indian policymakers have a relatively clear judgment on Sino-Indian relations and Indian-US ones. India doesn't have the ability to directly confront China yet, and as a country prioritizing economic development, India is in need of a peaceful neighboring environment.

Affected by the economic crisis, the US is also heavily burdened by its domestic economic problems.

Within India, the so-called China threat is a trick by Indian political figures to fool their people and Western countries. By making waves about China, Indian politicians can avoid domestic problems, bolster up national morale, and raise votes. And on the international level, India can obtain advanced weaponry and technologies from Western countries.

However in fact, the major direction of Indian military expansion is the Indian Ocean, and the navy has the largest part of India's rapid growing defense budget. India's military strategy on land is defensive, and it has another, more serious competitor than China in the Indian Ocean.

The border issue is still an obstacle in bilateral relations. India has never fully confronted its failings in 1962.

For instance, the Henderson Brooks-Bhagat report, detailing the reasons why the country lost the war, was never declassified and has not been released to the Indian public.

It's time for Chinese and Indian scholars to conduct joint research on some historical problems, to alter both sides' long-standing misconceptions.  

The author is a visiting fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a research fellow at Shanghai Institutes for International Studies. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn