India, China hold border talks

New Delhi, Jan 17 (UNI) India and China have begun the ninth round of talks here today in an attempt to resolve their longstanding border dispute.

National Security Advisor (NSA) M K Narayanan and Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo, Special Representatives for India and China respectively for the talks, will continue deliberations tomorrow as well.

Officials said India had pledged to improve ties with its Asian neighbours by resolving a decades-old boundary dispute with China.

''We are very interested in settling the border dispute as early as possible ... in a manner that will be satisfactory for both sides, and will not remain an issue that can be taken up years later,'' Mr Narayanan said in Cebu (Philippines) where Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao for nearly an hour.

Mr Narayanan said both sides wanted to work with ''greater vigour'' to end the dispute.

China lays claim on the Northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh while India rejects the claim.

India accuses Pakistan of illegally ceding part of the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) to China.

Dr Singh met Chinese President Hu Jintao here last year and the two leaders agreed that an early resolution of the boundary issue would advance the basic interests of the two countries and invest their strategic partnership with further strength and dynamism.

The Special Representatives have been asked to finalise the framework of a boundary settlement on the basis of the agreement on political parameters and guiding principles signed in April last year.

UNI