New Delhi, Aug. 23 -- The flurry of high-level diplomatic engagements between India and China this year - culminating in the visits of External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to Beijing and of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to New Delhi have created an impression of a thaw in ties. There is talk of a possible visit by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to China, the first in seven years. Smiling photographs of handshakes suggest an attempt to "reset" relations. But beneath this veneer of bonhomie lies a far starker reality: India-China relations remain as fraught as they were in the wake of the 2020 Galwan clash.

Optimism about a reset with China is not new. Since the Ladakh clashes of 2020, umpt...