After all, Beijing never found it necessary to ‘explain’ its all-weather friendship with Islamabad nor its occasional strategic partnership with Washington.

If he brushes aside India’s diplomatic obsession with drafting lofty joint declarations, Manmohan Singh could begin an important political conversation with his principal Chinese interlocutor — President Hu Jintao. As their economies grow rapidly and their national interests turn global, India and China will increasingly bump against each other in far corners. Sometimes, they might be on the same side; at others they will be competitors. Manmohan Singh and Hu must find ways to reduce the prospect for rivalry and expand the areas of cooperation. They might want to label this effort as the search for a ‘strategic partnership’. Words, however, are less important than the urgent adaptation to the new global dynamic of Sino-Indian relations.