It is nearly five years since an Indian prime minister last paid a visit to Beijing, a fact that underlines the continuing hesitancy of the official relationship between Asia’s two greatest emerging economies. In the meantime, bilateral trade has soared from $5bn to $38bn. After their meeting this week, Manmohan Singh and Wen Jiabao, the Indian and Chinese premiers, have set a target of reaching $60bn in combined imports and exports by 2010. Given the rapid growth of both economies, that should happen regardless of government intervention.

At last the two countries seem to be taking each other seriously, after decades of mutual suspicion. Yet all is certainly not plain sailing, and it will require a consistent level of commitment at the highest level to resolve their differences. Not least, it is high time they sorted out their decades-old border disputes in the Himalayas that took them to war in 1962, and continue to be a source of tension and bitterness.