Narendra Modi won last year's election on a platform of economic growth. He has often expressed admiration for China's economic development in recent decades. Being aware of India's collapsing infrastructure, he desperately needs a massive infusion of foreign investment.

Modi's Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping is keen on boosting growth at home too. Xi's visit to India last September was to keep Modi on a leash, as Beijing was worried about the India's cooperation with the US in the Asia Pacific region and its stance on territorial disputes between China and other countries in the South and East China Seas. Since Modi came to office, Shinzo Abe and Barack Obama had been visiting India.

Although China had vowed to invest $20 billion over the next five years in railways, industrial parks and, potentially, nuclear power in India, the amount was less than expected. There had been rumours of $100bn being invested. Indeed it was a disappointment for India. Besides trade relationships between the two countries, despite increase in recent years has been lopsided. India's trade deficit with China was about $40bn last year and there were fears that it could grow if China used India as a dumping ground for cheap manufactured goods.

Brahma Chellaney says Modi's recent to China has been a humiliating experience, putting up with "an unmistakable air of condescension", even though Chinese leaders "fêted Modi in style." He criticised Modi of making concessions, while "China has yielded nothing in return." He maintained China only “took note of India’s aspirations" to join the Nuclear Suppliers Group, and would support India's “aspiration to play a greater role in the United Nations, including in the Security Council.” Yet it had not "backed India’s bid to become a permanent member of the Security Council."

Xi had said that China would support India becoming a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, a security body in Central Asia, with China and Russia as key players.

The relationship between China and India is complex, with both looking for commercial advantages while mindful of core security concerns. The two neighbours fought a war in 1962 which ended in a devastating defeat for India. A thorn in Beijing's side is the presence of the Dalai Lama in India. The growing Chinese influence in the Indian Ocean has worried Delhi, which also has concerns about China's relationship with its hostile neighbour Pakistan and the role in Nepal. Given the "harsh strategic realities affecting the bilateral relationship. Without a new approach, the Sino-Indian relationship seems doomed to remain highly uneven and contentious." Yet Modi will make sure that India maintain a balanced relationship with all world powers. He may just have put on a brave face while visiting China.