India and China today had indepth exchange of views on the vexed boundary issue and on enhancing cooperation and coordination in regional and global affairs. Meeting for the second round of the Sino-India strategic dialogue in as many years, Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran in his talks with Chinese Vice Minister Wu Dawei covered bilateral, regional and international issues, official sources said.The boundary issue which has been nagging relations between the two countries for decades also came up for discussion on the opening day of the two-day talks between them, the sources said.Saran called on Chinese Executive Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo, who is also the Chinese special representative for the India-China boundary talks at the political level. Saran’s meeting with Dai assumes significance as the latter is set to visit India later this month for the seventh round of the boundary talks at the level of special representatives.Details of their in-camera talks held at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse are not available. While a quick solution to the boundary issue may not materialise, both sides are hopeful that a mutually-acceptable solution could be found through the mechanism of the special representatives to the vexed topic.The first strategic dialogue between India and China was held in Delhi on January 24 last year.During Chinese premier Wen Jiabao’s visit to India in April last year, New Delhi and Beijing decided to upgrade their relations and establish a ‘‘strategic and cooperative partnership for peace and prosperity’’.Commenting on the significance of the strategic dialogue, Chinese scholars noted that the two countries were major developing nations with great influence in the world. An enduring China-India friendship not only serves the fundamental interests of the two countries and peoples, but also contributes to peace, stability and development in Asia and the entire world, one expert said. Ohers stressed that beijing firmly pursues the policy of developing long-term, stable, good-neighbourly and cooperative relations with India. They also expressed satisfaction that the meeting was the first major bilateral event this year which is being marked as the ‘‘India-China friendship year’’. Saran will call on Chinese State Councillor Tang Jiaxuan and Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing tomorrow.
