The focus was on beefing up engagement between the two nations in the areas of trade and commerce. Modi is learnt to have made a strong push for improving regional connectivity as a booster to trade and increased people-to-people cultural contact.

Here lies the vision of China's peaceful rise. It is a concept first put forward in 2003 by Chinese authorities as the country was gradually reinforcing its role in international affairs.  But this concept comes with many layers: Even while China is exporting its products all over the world, Beijing explains that it has no hegemonic ambitions.  Can China be a superpower that is fundamentally unintrusive, and not a threat for its neighbors?

Today, China faces two difficult options: On one hand, it can keep on pushing its territorial claims at the expense of regional stability and goodwill, appeasing nationalist elements back home. Alternatively, it can rein in hardline factions, sign up to a legally-binding Code of Conduct (CoC) in the West Philippine Sea, and emerge as a legitimate contender for regional leadership in the coming decades.