Manmohan Singh and Chinese Premier may meet on the sidelines of ASEAN

New Delhi, Oct 16(ANI): Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora on Friday said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao may likely to meet on the sidelines of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Thailand.

The 15th ASEAN Summit will be held from October 23 to October 25.

Deora said that the Chinese Premier had conveyed his desire to meet Manmohan Singh during the recently concluded Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meet in Beijing.

"I had the privilege to meet the Chinese Foreign Minister, who introduced me to the Chinese Prime Minister. I requested him that these are issues, which could be solved through bilateral dialogue and then he asked me whether Manmohan Singh would be going to Thailand next week? I said yes and twice or thrice he said that he is looking forward to meet Singh in Thailand to discuss these matters," Deora told reporters on the sidelines of a function in the national capital.

Relationship between the two countries have been tense recently over a number of issues including China's claims of a disputed territory in Arunachal Pradesh, China issuing separate stamped visas to those hailing from Jammu and Kashmir and Manmohan Singh's visit to Arunachal Pradesh.

New Delhi feels that the action with regard to Kashmiri travellers and Arunachal Pradesh is seen as an attempt by Beijing to question the status of both the states as parts of India. (ANI)