Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has just concluded one of his most important foreign visits since his landmark visit to the United States in July, 2005.

Many might argue that the visit to China, his first as the country’s Prime Minister, was a bit overdue. The reason is not that there has been a long gap in summit-level bilateral exchange since the last one. Actually, there hasn’t been any as Chinese President Hu Jintao was in Delhi just about 14 months ago.

There have been some perceived negative vibes in bilateral ties in the recent past, which gave an impression that there existed a prolonged gap in direct communication at the highest level. Existence of misperceptions in the ties can hardly be denied. For one, Beijing has entertained some misgivings about growing Indo-US ties as if this was aimed at containing China. That is why this visit of the Prime Minister to China was important not only for the bilateral relations but also for the region and world as a whole.

It is too early to come to any definitive conclusions about the outcome of Singh’s visit. But it is evident from the summit document that the two sides have resolved to leave behind each other’s suspicions and misperceptions of the last two and half years and “look to the future in building a relationship of friendship and trust, based on equality, in which each is sensitive to the concerns and aspirations of the other.”

In essence, the summit document unmistakably points to one thing – both Singh and his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao have agreed to pick up the thread of bilateral ties from where they left at the end of their first summit in Delhi, in April, 2005. At that time, they had displayed earnestness to give greater momentum to bilateral ties and collaboration in international and regional affairs.

Thus, in the joint document the Chinese side has  reiterated the position it had articulated in 2005. Beijing has stopped well short of supporting India’s case for a UN Security Council permanent seat. On the boundary dispute too, China has confined itself to reiterating the 2005 position though this itself is perceived as a positive development in view of recent question marks about it due to lack of progress in talks on the issue at the special representative-level.

On the nuclear issue, China has signalled it has an open mind on India’s bid to return to international civil nuclear market. Both the sides seem to be keen on giving a new thrust to bilateral trade and to the overall improvement of relations.