Chinese premier Wen Jiabao and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh held "productive" talks here on Saturday but did not discuss their ongoing diplomatic spat, an official said. The pair met on the sidelines of a regional summit in the coastal resort of Hua Hin grouping the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Japan.
At the bilateral talks, which lasted 45 minutes, there was a "good discussion, a productive meeting and they agreed to further strategic and co-operative partnership," an Indian delegation official told AFP. Wen and Singh also sought to "build trust and understanding", the official added, but he said they did not discuss the disputed Indian border state of Arunachal Pradesh or the Dalai Lama's upcoming visit there.
Beijing has voiced its opposition to next month's trip planned by the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, as well as a recent visit by Singh to the border state while he was on the campaign trail before local elections. The two nations fought a war in 1962 in which Chinese troops advanced deep into the border state and inflicted heavy casualties on Indian troops.
India says China occupies 38,000 square kilometres (14,700 square miles) of its Himalayan territory, while Beijing claims all of Arunachal Pradesh, which covers 90,000 square kilometres. Despite trading jabs over the long-standing territorial issues, China and India on Wednesday signed a five-year agreement to cooperate on climate change leading up to crucial talks in Copenhagen.
As Saturday's talks began, Wen said they had "reached important consensus on promoting bilateral ties", according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua. "I believe that our two countries could maintain a good relationship in the future, which conforms with the interests of the two countries and I have confidence about that," he added.
"We share with the Chinese people their pride of success," Singh was then quoted as saying by the news agency.At the Hua Hin summit, the 16 Asian nations are discussing plans to boost economic and political co-operation and possibly forming an EU-style community.
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