Amid a flurry of high-level bilateral contacts and positive remarks, the special representatives of India and China on Monday kicked off a crucial round of boundary negotiations in Beijing, raising hopes for further progress in resolving the vexed issue.
National Security Adviser M K Narayanan, who is India's special representative, arrived in Beijing on Monday afternoon and met with his Chinese counterpart, and Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo for informal talks.
The 11th round of boundary negotiations will be held from Tuesday and will last till Wednesday. The latest round of in-camera boundary negotiations are taking place ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's planned visit to China later this year.
The last round was held in India in April.
"Undeniably there are some outstanding issues between China and India but we have established guiding political principles to seek solutions to these issues. I believe that as long as the two sides demonstrate sincerity and patience and uphold the principles of mutual respect, mutual benefit and mutual understanding, we are bound to find solutions to this issue. Both China and India value universal love and harmony," Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said recently.
But Chinese experts are not very optimistic that an early solution could be found to the protracted boundary issue that has marred the normal development of Sino-Indian relations.