Indo-China border talks on banks of Vembanad lake

Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 10 (UNI) The seventh round of Indo-China border talks will start on Sunday at the serene ambience of Kumarakom in Kottayam, a tiny hamlet on the banks of a lagoon formed by the Vembanad lake.

The Indian and the Chinese delegates, after their talks in New Delhi tomorrow, would move to Kumarakom resort for the next round of talks. The delegates would arrive at the Nedumbassery International airport at Kochi on Sunday morning and then proceed to Kumarkom for talks at the Taj Garden Retreat.

They would again hold discussions the next morning and leave from Kumarakom in the evening for Kochi, State Protocol officer P S Sreekumar told UNI. The team would return on March 14, he added.

The Indian side would be headed by National Security Advisor M K Narayanan and the visiting side by Executive Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo.

The stage was set for the talks here after Chinese Ambassador to India Sun Yuxi in January spent a day in a houseboat here. He had then expressed the desire to hold the talks in a serene atmosphere like in Kumarakom.

The fresh talks take place at a time when the two countries have declared 2006 as the Year of Friendship.

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