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India, China seek peace along Himalaya border: Officials

Indian national security adviser, Ajit Doval, (R) shakes hands with China's special representative, Yang Jiechi, in New Delhi on March 23, 2015. (AFP photo)

China and India have agreed to advance peace along their Himalayan border after the conclusion of talks aimed at resolving ongoing boundary disputes.

Both sides stressed their common desire to maintain calm and to press ahead with further negotiations over the Himalayan border, government officials confirmed on Tuesday, following talks in the Indian capital, New Delhi.

“The resolution of the border issue has made some positive progress through the unremitting efforts by the two sides,” said China’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying, adding, “We're willing to work together with the Indian side to forge ahead with the process of negotiation.”

Meanwhile, the Indian Foreign Ministry said “both sides agreed to take necessary steps to maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas, which is a prerequisite for continued growth of bilateral relations.”

The statements came after China's special representative, Yang Jiechi, and Indian national security adviser, Ajit Doval, wrapped up the two-day talks in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit China in May as part of a push to make progress on the border dispute.

Indian soldiers at the India-China border region in Arunachal Pradesh (file photo)
 

Indo-China dispute on Himalayas

All of the Indo-China border falls in the high Himalayas, which has been the scene of several recent military standoffs between the two countries.

In September, tensions heightened as hundreds of Chinese troops allegedly crossed into the Himalayan territory, just as Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in India to meet with Modi.

India accuses China of occupying 38,000 square kilometers (14,672 square miles) of its territory in the disputed region of Jammu and Kashmir, while the government in Beijing lays claim to 90,000 square kilometers (34,749 square miles) of land in the state of Arunachal Pradesh in northeastern India.

In 1962, China defeated India after a short but bloody war. Both sides have since regularly accused each other of sending soldiers to encroach on territory.

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