Well I see the big news as the front now being described as a "Border Area". This is significant. A line of Actual Control is simply an acknowledgement of facts on the ground and does little to legally address the nature of an underlying claim.
By calling it a Border Area, it is conceding; at least to a degree, that the positions where forces are stationed, represent a border area, an international border area. That is a big step. Admittedly the precise location of the border within the border area is yet to be defined, but it means that territory formally claimed by India and now under Chinese control is being recognised as sovereign Chinese territory. As Sawhney said, the border has just moved West quite a long way.
The second message is that disagreements will not become disputes. This means that any border incidents will simply be seen as border incidents and not as part of a co-ordinated strategy, unless it becomes clear that it is co-ordinated. This means that an over excited border guard firing a couple of shots, will be seen as an over excited border guard and not the start of an offensive.
Can it all go pear shaped? Of course it can, it may just be a bit harder to do it today.
