After finally saying farewell to 2017, we should acknowledge some important events for the people of India and China.

It's not possible in a brief article to discuss everything, but enough occurred to give hope for new vitality in Sino-Indian relations at all levels.

There's no doubt the relationship is one of the most important for the region and the world and that it has weathered severe tests and thus become more mature.

The year started with a few provocative and confrontational diplomatic moves towards China by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government which can be summed up as cutting off India's nose to spite China's face.

On May 14-15, China successfully hosted the high-profile Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing, which was attended by 30 world leaders and official government representatives from at least 30 more. Notably absent was India.

India is concerned about the Belt and Road  Initiative's flagship project, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which passes through Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK), a territory claimed by India, even though the CPEC is an economic project that has nothing to do with the Kashmir issue.

Over the past four years, the Belt and Road Initiative has been serving as China's blueprint for global development and coordination. So far, the initiative has won support from more than 100 countries and international organizations, over 40 of which have signed cooperation agreements with China.

While India remains wary, its neighbors – Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and Myanmar – are already seeing results from their participation. By not joining, India is missing out an opportunity for participating in regional economic development.

In summer, Indian policy towards China entered a dangerous phase when over 270 of its border troops crossed into Chinese-controlled territory at the border near Donglang (Doklam) in southern Tibet.

The move came despite China holding "indisputable sovereignty" under the "Convention between Great Britain and China Relating to Sikkim and Tibet" signed in 1890.

Thankfully, the standoff was eventually resolved through diplomatic means on August 28, allowing India-China ties to get back on a healthy track.

The ice quickly melted away when Prime Minister Narendra Modi went to China to attend the 9th BRICS Xiamen Summit on September 3-5 and paved the way for dialogue.

Modi and President Xi Jinping also had opportunities to meet each on the sidelines of summits like the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Astana and the G20 Summit in Hamburg. In June, China and Russia strongly backed India to become full member of SCO which will help it to build cooperative mechanisms on combating terrorism with other SCO members.

A private dialogue in Beijing on December 5, meanwhile, enabled the two large and rapidly growing developing countries to strengthen their bilateral cooperation in trade and investment. It raised prospects for India partnering with China in areas such as electric-powered mobility, clean energy, higher education and development of Special Economic Zones (SEZs).

On December 11, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was in New Delhi, sitting down with his Indian counterpart, Sushma Swaraj, as part of a meeting among the foreign ministers of Russia, India and China. During his visit, the Chinese foreign minister also met with Indian President Ram Nath Kovind.

Wang Yi has rightly pointed out that, "China and India must learn lessons from the Donglang incident to avoid such an incident in the future."

On December 22, at the 20th round of talks between Indian and Chinese special representatives on boundary issues in New Delhi, Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi exchanged views with Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval on bilateral ties, border issues and international and regional issues of common concern.

At this stage, it's unrealistic to expect an early settlement on the sticky border issue. However, crisis management is very important to maintain peace along the 4,000-km-long border between them and  Yang and Ajit did exchange ideas on various confidence building measures.

It is also worth mentioning that the Indian blockbuster film "Dangal" captivated Chinese moviegoers' hearts during the year. The tremendous success of the film has done much to further India's soft power in China. India should build on this through such means as  films, festivals, yoga, media exchanges, and so on.

The development of India-China relations in 2017 has kept the momentum, thanks to efforts from both sides, but is still far from satisfactory. Well over twobillion people on twosides of the Himalayas live under the same sky.

It's to be hoped that the top leaders can forge lasting friendship and be sincere friends, so that the coming generations will not be burdened by unresolved issues.

Rabi Sankar Bosu, Secretary of New Horizon Radio Listeners' Club, West Bengal, India

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors only, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.

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