Arunachal not discussed at Manmohan, Wen meet

Seeking to lower temperatures between India and China in the wake of recent verbal spats, both Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao did not discuss the territorial dispute over Arunachal Pradesh nor the proposed visit to that state of Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama.

The much awaited bilateral interaction stuck to a pre-determined script of an exchange of views on issues of bilateral, regional and multilateral importance, with a focus on taking the strategic partnership forward in a constructive manner. The two leaders met at Hotel Dusit Thani, the venue of the seventh Association of South

East Asian Nations summit.

The meeting''s objective was clear from the start--to ease tensions between the two countries. The meeting lasted for about fifty minutes. Terming his meeting with Jiabao as productive, Dr. Singh said it was a good discussion and the two sides agreed to further promote their strategic and cooperative partnership and to build trust and understanding.

Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma, the Prime Minister''s Principal Secretary T K A Nair and Secretary (East) N Ravi attended the meeting from the Indian side.