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India, China preparing for 
first ever strategic talks 
 

What is India News Service, Friday, 21 January 2005, 2000 hrs IST

India and China will initiate their first ever strategic dialogue on Monday.

It\92s learnt that Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Wu Dawei will be reaching here on Sunday night for talks with Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran.

He is also slated to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and External Affairs K Natwar Singh during his visit.

The dialogue, sources said, is aimed at broadening the scope of the bilateral relationship, allowing both sides to exchange notes on global and regional security issues.

This will provide them a forum to forge greater understanding of respective positions on issues such as terrorism, energy security, disarmament and UN reforms.

The move to upgrade the relationship assumes significance in the context of the diplomatic efforts by several countries to gain access to the energy resources in Central Asia. Both countries are strategically located to take advantage of this and these discussions will help converge approaches on future plans to tap resources.

More importantly, the talks indicate a willingness on both sides to explore ways to enhance mutual engagement on other pressing issues while continuing to address contentious aspects like the boundary dispute.

India and China, officials said, realise the importance of not letting contentious issues come in the way of taking forward the bilateral relationship.

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