Salman Khurshid meets Chinese Foreign Minister

India and China discussed the recent intrusion by Chinese troops at the Depsang Valley during External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid`s two-hour-long meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.

Beijing: India and China on Thursday discussed the recent intrusion by Chinese troops at the Depsang Valley during External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid`s two-hour-long meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.

Welcoming Khurshid, Wang said at present the China-India relationship has shown a great momentum with both sides preparing for the back-to-back visits of leaders within this year. He was referring to the forthcoming visit of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to India later this month and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh`s visit here later this year. The two visits provides our bilateral relations an important opportunity for growth, he said. Stating that Khurshid`s visit to China has great significance, Wang said at present both sides have to "work for the common goal of making good preparations for Li`s visit to India and to push forward our strategic and cooperative partnership forward between our two countries," he said. The two leaders later continued their talks over dinner. Ahead of their meeting, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying told reporters that China hopes to use existing mechanisms to carry out discussions with India over border issues. She was replying to questions on the intrusion by Chinese troops at the Daulat Beig Oldi (DBI) in Ladakh region, resulting in a nearly three-week-long stand-off before both sides pulled back their troops. "We hope to use currently available mechanisms to conduct friendly consultations with India on border issues," she said, replying to a question regarding whether the two countries will sign a new border peace treaty. "We will work with India to jointly safeguard peace and stability in border regions and find a solution that is just, reasonable and acceptable for both sides," Hua said. She said mechanisms related to border issues have been established. Special Representatives on border issues started meeting in 2003 and a bilateral working mechanism for consultation and coordination last year. PTI