India, China to set up hotline for their prime ministers

New Delhi, Jun 18 (PTI) India and China will set up a
hotline between the Prime Ministers of the two countries which
is expected to be operational next month.

The decision to establish the hotline was reached during
a meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese
President Hu Jintao in Yekaterinburg on Monday.

"We are working on the finer details and it is expected
to be operational next month," highly placed sources said
here.

The sources said the two countries had been working on
the matter for "quite some time".

The hotline will enable Singh and his Chinese counterpart
Wen Jiabao to hold direct conversations whenever they want.

During their meeting, Singh and Hu discussed ways to
enhance mutual trust and take forward the bilateral relations
in the context of strategic and cooperative partnership.

Singh and Hu agreed to take into consideration each
other's concerns and core interests and strengthen
coordination and cooperation on major international issues and
regional issues, the Chinese President had said after the
meeting.

On resolution of the boundary question, the Special
Representatives of the two countries -- National Security
Adviser M K Narayanan and Chinese State Councillor Dai Bingguo
-- will meet in New Delhi on August 7 and 8.

India is satisfied that peace has been maintained on the
border as the Special Representatives continue their task.

The two Special Representatives have made progress but
India feels that "much more" can be done to address the vexed
issue. PTI PYK
DEP
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