India, China border talks end without any solution

New Delhi, Sep 19 : India and China today failed to reach any specific agreements on their disputed boundary issue in the latest round of negotiations, but decided to pursue their goal for a fair and reasonable solution acceptable to both sides.

"Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo and Indian National Security Adviser M K Narayanan headed their delegations for the talks, which were pragmatic, candid and friendly," a statement issued by the Chinese Foreign Ministry said here.

After a year-long hiatus, the two sides concluded two days of in-camera talks today without reaching any specific agreements. The next round of will be held in India.

The 12th round of boundary talks were held amid some tension in bilateral ties in the wake of attempts by China to block a consensus on the India-specific waiver at the NSG meet in Vienna earlier this month.

The brief statement said Dai and Narayanan exchanged in-depth views on a framework to solve the boundary issue.

"They agreed that both countries would carry out the guidelines of their leaders, maintain negotiations and seek a fair and reasonable solution acceptable to both sides," agencies quoted the statement as saying.

The brief statement did not indicate whether any progress had been made during the latest round of negotiations.

It is not clear if the two sides discussed the status of Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh which has long been a serious bone of contention.

Narayanan had earlier said that the lingering dispute over the Buddhist enclave of Tawang was preventing efforts by the two countries to "cross the rubicon."

The next round of discussions will take place in India, the statement added.

During a meeting with Narayanan here yesterday, China had indicated that the two countries should maintain peace along their disputed border till a solution is found to the vexed issue.

Unable to find a negotiated settlement through the diplomatic channels, India and China appointed Special Representatives in June 2003 to address the border issue from a political perspective of the overall bilateral relations.

The latest round of talks comes after the two sides held negotiations from September 24-26 last year in Beijing.

India says China is illegally occupying 43,180 sq kms of Jammu and Kashmir including 5,180 sq km illegally ceded to Beijing by Islamabad under the Sino-Pakistan boundary agreement in 1963.

On the other hand, China accuses India of possessing some 90,000 sq km of Chinese territory, mostly in Arunachal Pradesh.

ANI