India, China will work on border issues

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NEW DELHI, Jan. 18 (UPI) -- India and China agreed to establish a working mechanism for consultation and coordination on border disputes unresolved since their 1962 war, officials said.

The two Asian nuclear powers signed an agreement in New Delhi for maintaining peace and tranquility along their border, which has remained tense in recent months. India remains wary of China's close relations with neighboring Pakistan, which also has nuclear arms.

The agreement came after the 15th round of special representative talks held in the Indian capital, led by India's national security adviser, Shivshankar Menon, and China's state councilor, Dai Bingguo.

The major task of the mechanism is to deal with border related affairs to help maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas, China's official news agency, Xinhua, reported.

India's Economic Times reported the two sides agreed the working mechanism would study ways and means to conduct and strengthen exchanges and cooperation between military personnel, and will also explore the possibility of cooperation in the border areas.

Xinhua reported the two sides said they are encouraged by the healthy development of the Sino-India relations in recent years, and that the current changes in the international system provide a historical opportunity for China and India for cooperation and future development.

China Daily carried an article by Professor Swaran Singh at New Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University saying the "breakthrough agreement" seeks to prevent occasional misperceptions from flaring up.

"Now, apart from providing the much-needed momentum to the rather lackadaisical special representatives' talks, the mechanism is also expected to boost Sino-Indian mutual trust and generate atmospherics for delineating their border on the map followed by demarcating it on the ground," the article said.

"The outcome of this process, of course, will depend on the general spirit of mutual understanding and accommodation."