India, China committed to resolution of boundary issue: Pranab

New Delhi, Nov 28 (UNI) India and China are committed to the resolution of the boundary issue and pending a final settlement, will maintain peace in the border areas, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told Parliament today.

Making a suo moto statement on Chinese President's Hu Jintao's visit to India, he said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the visiting President had exchanged views on the boundary question and expressed satisfaction at the progress made by the Special Representatives during their meetings.

Mr Mukherjee said both the leaders had agreed that an early resolution of the boundary question would not only advance the basic interests of the two countries but also ''invest our strategic partnership with further strength and dynamism and should therefore be pursued as a strategic objective''.

Both the leaders directed the Special Representatives to expedite work on exploring the framework of a boundary settlement on the basis of the agreement on Political Parameters and Guiding Principles, signed in April last year.

The two countries had agreed that pending the final settlement of the boundary question, they would maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas and speed up the work of clarification and confirmation of the Line of Actual Control, he said.

On the whole, both the sides were satisfied with the outcome of the Chinese President's visit which is expected to give a significant boost to joint efforts for all-round development of bilateral ties while addressing the outstanding issues in ''a frank, purposive and pro-active manner''.

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