April 24, 2007	Tuesday	Rabi-us-Sani 06, 1428

NEW DELHI, April 23: India said on Monday that talks to resolve a longstanding border dispute with giant northern neighbour China were “friendly” and “constructive” and would be continued at a later date.

An Indian foreign ministry statement said the three-day talks between Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo and Indian National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan were held in an “open, friendly, cooperative and constructive atmosphere.” “The two Special Representatives continued their discussions on a framework for the boundary settlement” on the basis of an agreement signed in New Delhi in April 2005, during a visit by Chinese premier Wen Jiabao.

The next round of talks would be held in China “at a mutually convenient time,” the statement added, without indicating whether differences on their border -- a legacy of their brief but bitter 1962 war -- had been narrowed.

The Chinese delegation did not say whether any progress had been achieved.

India says China occupies 38,000 square kilometres of its territory, while Beijing claims 90,000 square kilometres of the remote Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh.

A formal ceasefire line was never established after 1962, but the border has remained mostly peaceful after agreements were signed in 1993 and 1996.

This was the 10th round of talks between the two sides since India and China appointed special representatives in 2003 to speed up a resolution to the problem.

During a visit to New Delhi in November, Chinese President Hu Jintao said both sides would give priority to ending the row.

Diplomatic ties between the two economic rivals have increased in recent years with many bilateral visits and two-way trade touching two billion dollars a month.

Sources said premier Singh plans to visit China this year.—AFP