India, China pledge nuclear cooperation

Breaking new ground, India and China today decided to promote bilateral cooperation in civil nuclear energy and expedite resolution of the boundary issue.

Giving positive signals to India's bid for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council (UNSC), Beijing said it "supports" New Delhi's aspirations to play a greater role in the UN, including in the UNSC.

The two sides also agreed to hold a military exercise in India this year.

During extensive talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao, it was agreed that special representatives MK Narayanan and Dai Bingguo, who is also the Chinese senior vice-foreign minister, will complete at an "early date" the task of arriving at a framework on the basis of the agreement on political parameters and guiding principles reached in April 2005.

The two sides also decided to enhance economic engagement by stepping up bilateral trade target from $40 billion to $60 billion by 2010.