Progress in Sino-Indian border talks 'dim': Expert

New Delhi, Aug 8: The hopes for substantive progress in China-India border talks were 'dim' as the two nations began their 13th round of boundary negotiations on Friday, Aug 7 experts in international studies have said.

Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo (r), special representative of China in Sino-Indian Boundary Talks, and his Indian counterpart, National Security Advisor MK Narayanan, resumed the talks in New Delhi after a year's hiatus.

China and India established the government representative mechanism in 2003, the China Daily reported.

Both sides will exchange ideas on how to achieve a political solution to disputed border areas and safeguard peace and calmness, said Ma Chaoxu, spokesman for the Chinese delegation, adding that new talks will push forward bilateral relations.

The border issue stretches back to colonial British rule in the area. China and India share a border of about 2,000 km. The disputed areas cover about 125,000 square km of territory.

Before the talks, the Hong Kong-based Ming Pao newspaper reported that China's "bottom line" would see China give up its demand for the east stretch of the border while India would give up the west stretch and return China the middle section. So China would get "28 percent" of the disputed area.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said in a statement on Friday in Beijing that the report was groundless'.

"In the spirit of mutual understanding and accommodation, China is willing to work with India to seek a fair and mutually acceptable resolution," Jiang said.

Indian experts believe there is little chance that the border dispute will be resolved during the latest talks.

"The outlook of this round (of talks) is certainly not good," said strategic analyst Brahma Chellaney.

ANI