India, China conclude border talks

New Delhi, Jan 18 (UNI) India and China today concluded their ninth round of three-day talks on the 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, held discussions on a framework for the boundary settlement on the basis of the Agreement on Political Parameters and Guiding Principles.

''The talks were held in an open, friendly, cooperative and constructive atmosphere,'' an External Affairs Ministry spokesman said.

The next round of talks between the Special Representatives will be held in Beijing at a mutually convenient time, the spokesman added.

The Chinese Vice Foreign Minister paid courtesy calls on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha L K Advani yesterday.

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 to both sides, and will not remain an issue that can be taken up years later,'' Mr Narayanan said in Cebu (The Philippines) where the Prime Minister 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 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.

In Cebu, the two Prime Ministers asked their respective Special Representatives to pursue search for a solution to the question ''with greater vigour and innovativeness''.

India has said the border question must be solved on the basis of the Guiding Principles agreed upon in 2005.

Both sides see an early settlement of the boundary question as a ''strategic objective''.

UNI