No progress in India-China border talks

India and China ended another round of talks today with no indication of progress made in resolving their decades-old border dispute that already has caused a war between the Asian giants.

India’s national security adviser M. K. Narayanan and China’s vice foreign minister Dai Bingguo continued their discussions on a framework for the boundary settlement, said an external affairs ministry statement.

“The talks were held in an open, friendly, co-operative and constructive atmosphere,” the statement says.

Both sides agreed to hold the next round of talks in China at a mutually convenient time, it said.

It was the ninth round of talks since their governments elevated them to the level of special envoys in 2003.

India and China fought a border war in 1962 across the Himalayas. The dispute relates to 50,000 square miles of disputed territory along their mountainous frontier.

Yesterday, India’s junior minister for external affairs Anand Sharma said the two sides were discussing complex issues that could be time consuming.

During his stay in the Indian capital, Dai met with Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh, external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee and L. K. Advani, leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of India’s parliament, the statement said.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Singh met with Chinese premier Wen Jiabao on the sidelines of a summit with Southeast Asian leaders in the Philippines and pledged to improve ties with its neighbour by resolving the territorial dispute.

Singh received an invitation from Wen to visit China.

India and China have been improving economic ties despite their border dispute. During Chinese president Hu Jintao’s visit to India in November, the two countries agreed to double trade to $40bn (€30bn) by 2010.

They also plan joint collaboration in oil exploration and information technology.