China says Wen, Manmohan meet will be “important”

Beijing: With a war of words between India and China showing no signs of abating, Beijing has now confirmed that Chinese premier Wen Jiabao and prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh will hold an "important" meeting in Thailand on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit this week.

Chinese assistant foreign minister Hu Zhengyue told reporters here that Wen and Singh will discuss "bilateral relations, and regional and international issues" at the meet.

"This meeting between the two prime ministers is a very important one," Hu said. "There has been good progress in our bilateral relationship and we hope this momentum can be sustained."

The confirmation follows Indian attempts to set up such a meeting after Chinese premier Wen Jiabao indicated last week that he wanted to discuss Sino-Indian differences with Singh. Wen expressed his desire for a meet a day after his government lodged a protest against Singh's recent visit to Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims to be an extension of Tibet and its own territory.

Recriminations have flowed from both sides with no signs of a let-up.

Even as Beijing re-iterated its claim over Arunachal Pradesh and questioned prime minister Manmohan Singh's visit there on 3 October as part of an election campaign, India hit back questioning Chinese plans to get involved in projects in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

In spite of innumerable rounds of border talks between both sides, China has shown no inclination to settle the issue and indulges in meaningless histrionics every now and then to assert superficial claims to vast tracts of territory.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit will follow up with a meet with partners Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea.