New Delhi, May 7: China proposed a border defence cooperation agreement (BDCA) a month before the Raki Nala incident in which its troops set up camp on the disputed frontier in eastern Ladakh in territory that India claims.

Indian sources said the Raki Nala incident did not involve a quid pro quo for the Chinese to remove their camp but it was achieved for the price of a “tin shed”. Indian forces removed a “tin shed” at a place called Chumar, in south-eastern Ladakh, that was completed on April 18, three days after the Chinese and the Indian forces came face-to-face at Raki Nala, the sources said.

But New Delhi did convey to Beijing during the negotiations following the setting up of the Raki Nala camp that a diplomatic stand-off could emerge.

Some two weeks after the camp was discovered on April 15, India’s ambassador to China conveyed to the Chinese authorities that “it could cast a shadow on bilateral relations”. There was speculation on whether the visits of Salman Khurshid and Li Keqiang would at all take place.

The Indian government also assesses that the Raki Nala incident may be a pointer to more pinpricks on the disputed Line of Actual Control as Beijing is now more keen on demarcating the common boundary.

The establishment in New Delhi is still looking for answers to the question: why did China come to Raki Nala?

But there is a growing understanding that the “incursion” and the camp at Raki Nala — that was dismantled on Sunday — will probably set the tone for discussions on the border when foreign minister Salman Khurshid visits Beijing this week (May 9-10) and when Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visits New Delhi on May 20 on his first foreign trip.

“An incident like this will lead to certain questions being asked because our bilateral relations, we had thought, were actually on a different trajectory,” a source said.

In any case, sources in the capital said, Beijing was now likely to urge New Delhi to shake off its inertia on settling the disputed border and push it to the top of the agenda in bilateral relations.

This could effectively mean that India’s keenness on economic relations and greater access to Chinese markets for Indian goods could become less important. The balance of trade is in China’s favour.

The sources claimed that there was no give-and-take on the Ladakh frontier after which the Chinese and Indian forces left Raki Nala with their tents.

Choosing their words carefully, the sources said “we have not used the word ‘withdrawal’ but the words ‘restoration of status quo ante’ that prevailed before April 15”. They said India had not destroyed any of its bunkers or fortifications but “removed a tin shed”.

The sources said India is also preparing for more incidents on the common boundary with China. The frontier has been peaceful since 1967 in the sense that there has been no violence, unlike the Line of Control with Pakistan.

But “transgressions” and the occasional tent-pitching by rival patrols of the Chinese and Indian forces have been a feature of the undemarcated Line of Actual Control (LAC).

The sources said the Indian government was “closely studying” the Chinese proposal for the BDCA. Without disclosing the details of the proposal, the sources said China wants institutionalised communication mechanisms between the border forces.

The proposed agreement looks at the specifics of communication mechanisms between the border forces that are more detailed than the modalities under two earlier pacts of 1993 and 2005. The agreement would also push a firmer understanding of where exactly the borders lie. But in its current shape, it reflects the Chinese perception.

The sources said talks could involve an exchange of maps marking the border down to grid positions.