India to discuss bilateral trade, border issue with China on sidelines of ASEAN meet

Khurshid is meeting Wang on the sidelines of the ASEAN-India Ministerial level meeting in Brunei.

Ahead of the meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Monday said that the two leaders were expected to discuss bilateral trade and make some progress towards resolving the border issue.

Khurshid is meeting Wang on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-India Ministerial level meeting in Brunei.

Khurshid further said that the visit of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to India in May followed by the meeting between foreign ministers of both the countries in Beijing, has provided the perfect platform for this round of talks.

"The very successful visit of the Chinese Premier Li to our country, my own visit to China where I had an opportunity to make friends with the foreign minister and this will be a chance to refresh some of those moments and then look ahead at some of the ideas that we have shared and on which we need to work together, particularly in providing greater substance to our trade and investment relationship and indeed steadily working towards peace and tranquillity on the border, ultimately finding a resolution to our border differences," said Khurshid.

In May, Indian and Chinese soldiers faced off 100 metres (330 feet) apart on a plateau near the Karakoram mountain range, where they fought a war 50 years ago, for three weeks until they reached a deal for both sides to withdraw.

India said up to 50 Chinese soldiers set up a camp in its territory on the western rim of the Himalayas on April 15. Some Indian officials and experts believed the incursion signalled Chinese concern about increased Indian activity in the area.

The Chinese camp was in an area India said was 19 km (12 miles) beyond what it understands to be the border in the Ladakh region of Kashmir.