Editor's note: Andrew Korybko is a Moscow-based American political analyst. The article reflects the author's opinion, and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

U.S. President Donald Trump's impending departure from the White House presents the perfect opportunity for a much-needed reset in Chinese-Indian relations. Bilateral ties have become tenser over the past four years as a result of the American leader's attempts to divide and rule these historic civilizational partners.

Trump aimed to be as globally disruptive as possible in all respects, and he admittedly succeeded to an extent when it came to complicating the geopolitical situation in Asia.

Nevertheless, so long as the political will is present, it's possible for China and India to put recent experiences behind them in charting a new era of partnership together.

In order to understand how this could play out in practice, it's important to first review the main issues negatively impacting their relations.

India was misled by Trump into viewing China's Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) with suspicion. This in turn made it susceptible to his military outreaches which recently resulted in them clinching the last of three so-called "foundational agreements" between their militaries.

Throughout the course of that process, India felt emboldened to assert itself along its shared frontier with China, regrettably culminating in this summer's clashes. In parallel with this, India also banned a large number of Chinese apps.

Despite this, ties between the two Asian neighbors weren't as adversely affected as some observers initially feared.

China and India still closely cooperate in BRICS, the G20 and the SCO, for example, and they're both taking the climate crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic very seriously, albeit with different levels of success as regards to the latter.

Moreover, China is still India's second largest trading partner, and their economies are complementary. They occupy the same natural economic space and are destined to play leading roles in what many have predicted will become the Asian Century.

Trump's exit from the international scene might therefore have a very positive effect on regional geopolitics, in particular regarding India's policies towards China.

Joe Biden has promised to be much more pragmatic than his predecessor, and while the U.S.-Indian Strategic Partnership will still remain in effect, it might no longer be exploited for the purpose of attempting to "contain" China.

Without American support, India is less likely to engage in controversial unilateral actions against China. 

To the contrary, it'll have an incentive to improve relations instead, especially if the U.S. seeks to improve its relations with China too.

The first step in that direction would be for both countries to agree that the use of force is unacceptable for resolving bilateral disputes. It's of the highest priority that they make progress in de-escalating the situation along their frontier.

The confidence-building measures that follow would thus reduce the likelihood of them ever repeating last summer's clashes. By redirecting their military focus away from one another, helped to an enormous degree by the U.S. no longer seeking to exploit India as a proxy for "containing" China, bilateral ties could return to their previous level of trust.

With India no longer regarding China as a threat, it might then be possible for the countries to improve their economic ties.

India must come to realize that the BRI has no ulterior motives. Announcing new joint projects could greatly help in this respect, as would reviving interest in the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) Economic Corridor.

On that topic, the whole of South Asia and beyond even as far as Africa would benefit if these economic giants joined forces in cooperating on projects in third countries such as, for example, Afghanistan.

They'd come to trust each other even more, thus reinforcing their rapprochement.

The past four years of Trump's divisive policies have been very difficult for the world, and especially for Chinese-Indian relations. But everything might improve once he's out of the picture.

The removal of his pernicious influence from the bilateral equation could lead to a breakthrough in ties between those two.

China and India are natural partners and continued to cooperate closely in multilateral fora even during the height of their tensions last summer. 

This proves that the political will is certainly present to reset their bilateral relations to the excellent pre-Trump level.

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at opinions@cgtn.com.)