India, China hold talks to resolve border dispute
(AP)
Updated: 2006-03-11 15:23

India and China on Saturday began a new round of talks to resolve a decades-old border dispute that caused a brief war in 1962.

Indian National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan and Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo are leading the talks, the Indian foreign ministry said.

Dai called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh before meeting with Narayanan.

India and China fought a border war in 1962 and ties between the two nations remained strained until recent years, when the two moved to expand economic ties.

India says China holds 41,440 square kilometers (16,000 square miles) of its territory in the Kashmir region, while Beijing lays claim to a wide swath of territory in India's northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, which shares a 1,046-kilometer (650-mile) border with China's Tibet region.

Although the border talks have moved away from technical issues relating to territory along their mountainous border, the process is at a stage where political compromises are required, said an Indian official who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to talk to reporters.

The talks are to conclude on Saturday. The last round of talks between the two special representatives was held in China in September last year.

Indian and Chinese negotiators held six rounds of talks over the boundary question.