It cannot but be a good sign when two of Asia's largest economies signal their intent to walk away from conflict. Over the last month, China and India announced that their soldiers have disengaged from an area in the high Himalayas where clashes occurred in May. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, talking for the first time in five months, called for more dialogue to ease tensions and agreed to set up a hotline between their ministries during a 75-minute phone call last Thursday. The possibility has now emerged that President Xi Jinping may attend the annual Brics summit that India is set to host this year.

After disengagement from Pangong Lake along their disputed border, thousands of troops no longer point guns at each other in an area where territorial claims overlap the most and carry the potential for a flare-up. It was here in September that their militaries accused each other of firing warning shots in what was the first use of guns along the border in decades. Disengagement thus far has been smooth, mutually verified, and should set the stage for better border management after a deadly clash in June, to the north of Pangong Lake, resulted in losses on both sides.