India, China hold border talks tomorrrow

New Delhi, Mar 10 (UNI) India and China begin the seventh meeting of their Special Representatives on the vexed boundary question here tomorrow, a spokesman of the External Affairs Ministry said today.

The Indian delegation at the talks will be headed by National Security Advisor (NSA) M K Narayanan, who is India's Special Representative on the boundary question, while the Chinese side will be led by Mr Dai Bingguo, Executive Vice Foreign Minister and China's Special Representative.

The two sides will continue their talks at Kottayam in Kerala on March 12 and 13. The delegations will leave for Kottayam on March 12.

Before beginning the meeting, the Chinese Special Representative will call on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The Indo-US Civilian Nuclear cooperation agreement is likely to figure at the meeting with the Prime Minister.

The last round of talks between the Special Representatives on the boundary question was held in China from September 25 to 28, 2005.

A statement issued after the sixth round in September in Beijing had described the discussions as the beginning of the ''second phase'' of negotiations during which the Special Representatives were mandated to work out an agreed framework for a boundary settlement on the basis of the Agreement on Political Parameters and Guiding Principles for Settlement of India-China boundary dispute.

The two countries had decided in 2003 to appoint a Special Representative each to explore the framework for settlement of the boundary question.

UNI RB VD KN1936