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India, China to speed up border dispute talks
(AFP/chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2005-12-16 07:00
India and China have agreed to speed up the process of resolving their long-standing border dispute, a report quoted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as saying.
"I had very good discussions with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao," Singh told reporters travelling with him from an East Asia summit in the Malayasian capital Kuala Lumpur.
India and China have agreed to speed up the process of resolving their long-standing border dispute, a report quoted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as saying. [AFP] |
"We feel the negotiations should be expedited... We are dealing with difficult issues. Without setting any deadline, I do think it is possible to move forward at a faster pace..." he said according to the Hindu newspaper on Thursday.
In another development, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a regular news conference in Beijing that the two countries will hold friendly discussions to find an appropriate solution to the border issue.
China and India account for more than 1/3 of the world's total population, Qin pointed out, saying that Sino-Indian friendship not only conforms to the interests of the two neighbours, but also benefits the peace and stability of Asia and the world.
Singh, who met Wen during his four day stay in Kuala Lumpur, described it as his "most important meeting."
Giant neighbours India and China fought a brief, bitter border war in 1962.
A formal ceasefire line has yet to be established since the war but the unsettled border has remained largely peaceful following agreements signed in 1993 and 1996.
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