By Rajeev Sharma
On Monday India and China held a meeting at the prime ministerial level for the 14th time since Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh took office in May 2004. The meeting, which was held on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit in Phnom Penh, will likely be the last one Singh and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao hold in their current capacities as Wen is expected to step down in March of next year.
Earlier this year Singh called Wen his “close friend.” On Monday Wen described his many meetings with Singh over the years as “memorable.”
In December the two sides will hold the next round of the Indo-Sino boundary talks in Beijing, diplomatic sources said this week. The exact dates are likely to be agreed upon later this month when representatives from both nations meet in New Delhi for the India-China Strategic Economic Dialogue. National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon will represent India at the border talks, while China’s delegation will be led by State Councilor Dai Bingguo, Menon’s counterpart. The parties held the 15th round of talks on the border issue last January.
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