INDIA: India and China yesterday pledged to end a long-standing border dispute that led to a bitter war in 1962 and to double bilateral trade between the world's fastest-growing economies to €32 billion by 2010.
India's prime minister Manmohan Singh and China's president Hu Jintao, holding the first summit in a decade in New Delhi, said settling their frontiers was a key priority as economic links deepened between the world's most populous countries.
"President Hu and I are in agreement that the prospects are bright for the simultaneous development of India and China," Mr Singh said, addressing the media with the Chinese president.
"There is enough space for the two countries to develop together in a mutually supportive manner while remaining sensitive to each other's concerns and aspirations as befits good neighbours and partners for mutual benefit," he said.
Mr Singh added that an early boundary settlement would advance the neighbours' interests and that special representatives from both sides had been instructed to "accelerate their progress" towards finalising a territorial deal.
The neighbours have been engaged for nearly 25 years in what is possibly the longest border negotiations between two countries.
New Delhi accuses Beijing of occupying 38,000sq km of India's territory while Beijing, in turn, claims 90,000sq km.
The world's most populous nations, accounting for almost one-third of humanity, fought a war over this border dispute 44 years ago - India came off worse and has been traumatised since. India claims the territorial dispute is "Beijing-driven".
A formal ceasefire line is yet to be established along the disputed border stretching over 4,000km, but the unsettled Himalayan frontier has remained largely peaceful because of "peace and tranquillity" agreements signed in 1993 and 1996.
During talks between Mr Singh and Mr Hu lasting over 90 minutes, the two sides agreed on pursuing a 10-pronged strategy to intensify bilateral co-operation besides signing 13 agreements.
These included pledges for greater co-operation in science and technology including civilian nuclear energy, boosting trans-border connectivity, and opening additional consulates at Kolkata (Calcutta) in eastern India and Guangzhou (Canton) in southern China.
They also pledged to strengthen tourism, people-to-people contact through relaxed visa regimes and agreed to observe 2007 as the year of India-China friendship.
Despite the outward bonhomie and homilies, relations between the two are dogged by the presence in India of Tibet's exiled leader, the Dalai Lama, and some 120,000 exiles; and Beijing's strategic alliance with India's neighbour and archrival, Pakistan.