India, China to hold Special Representative talks from February 10

NEW DELHI: India and China will hold their 17th round of Special Representative talks on the contentious boundary issue on February 10-11, the first meeting since the two countries inked the Border Defence Cooperation Agreement ( BDCA) last year.

"In addition to deliberations on the India-China Boundary Question, the two sides will also discuss bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interest," External Affairs Ministry said here today.

During the talks, which will be led by National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon from Indian side and State Councilor Yang Jiechi from China, strategic issues including the situation in Afghanistan will be discussed, official sources said.

The 16th round of talks was held last year in China during which the two sides discussed "maintenance of peace and tranquility on the India-China border areas including possible additional confidence building measures, ways and means of strengthening existing mechanisms for consultation and coordination on border affairs and methodology to enhance the efficiency of communications between the two sides".

The 17th round will be the first meeting between the Special Representatives since the inking of BDCA during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's trip to Beijing last year.

The pact aims at enhancing communication between the two security forces as part of the confidence building measures being adopted to maintain status quo and stability along the nearly 4,057-km line of actual control the two countries share.