By Manish Chand, IANS,
Frankfurt : Ahead of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in New York Wednesday, India Tuesday said the two countries had “frank and constructive discussions” on the boundary dispute last week and were hopeful of intensifying their cooperation on global issues.
“They had a good and frank discussion. We are supposed to do the framework for the boundary settlement,” a senior official accompanying the prime minister to the UN said.
“There is still a gap between our framework and their framework. There is still a long way to go,” he said.
India is hopeful of a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution to the boundary dispute, the official stressed.
Manmohan Singh arrived in Frankfurt, the financial hub of Germany, Monday evening en route to New York where he will address the UN General Assembly and later meet US President George W. Bush in Washington.
He will meet the Chinese premier at Hotel New York Palace Wednesday and discuss a wide swathe of bilateral and global issues, including the UN reforms, climate change and multilateral trade negotiations.
India and China ended their 12th round of border talks in Beijing Friday without any breakthrough.
In a bid to strike a positive note ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to China next month to attend a conclave of Asian and European leaders (ASEM), India has decided to put Beijing’s perceived role in the NSG behind and focus instead on on trade, greater people-to-people exchanges and increased cooperation on global issues.