India, Aug. 31 -- The eight-point outcomes that India and China released on Wednesday last week, after the Special Representatives (SRs) of the two countries met in Beijing, signal much-needed diplomatic progress. But they also mask unresolved structural issues on the border dispute. To be sure, the outcomes are better than nothing, but they are also less than what we needed. In a sense, the agreement is also a description of the position India is bargaining from, than what an ideal agreement should have looked like.

The talks between the SRs indicate progress. For instance, two more meeting points for senior commanders, two more hotline channels in the Eastern and Middle Sectors, a September meeting on trans-border rivers, three trading...