India, China seek to solve border dispute, double trade

INDIA: India and China pledged after a landmark summit Tuesday to work faster to end a bitter border dispute, the cause of a brief war in 1962, and double trade between the Asian giants to 40 billion dollars by 2010.

Chinese President Hu Jintao and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, holding the first leadership meeting in a decade, said settling their frontiers was a key priority as economic links deepen between the world's most populous countries.

"An early boundary settlement will advance the interests of our two countries," Singh said, adding that special representatives from both nations had been told to "accelerate their progress" towards a deal.

The two leaders, who met at New Delhi's ornate diplomatic venue of Hyderabad House, also inked 13 agreements mainly aimed at increasing tourism and investment and establishing new consulates in the eastern India city of Kolkata and the Chinese port city of Guangzhou.

Earlier Tuesday, Hu insisted that "India and China are friends" and that his visit was meant to dispel mistrust between the countries - caused by the legacy of the war and Beijing's close ties to India's rival Pakistan.

Hu will leave India for Pakistan on Thursday after a stop in the financial capital Mumbai and the Taj Mahal city of Agra. The visit comes amid booming trade between the two Asian powerhouses - expected to reach 20 billion dollars this year, a jump of 37.5 percent from 2005. This, the leaders said, should double over the next three years.

"We will endeavour to have the bilateral volume of trade reach 40 billion US dollars by 2010 and encourage two-way investment flow," Singh said.

New Delhi, Wednesday, AFP