Bangalore, Oct 27 (IANS) Close on the heels of the meeting between the prime ministers of India and China in Thailand, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna and his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi met here and both agreed to continue “the process of building trust and understanding” to resolve all outstanding issues, including the border dispute.
“We both see this as a part of the process of building trust and understanding at the political level,” Krishna told reporters here after his meeting with Yang that lasted for 90 minutes.

Krishna stressed that he was “satisfied” with the meeting that took place against the backdrop of mutual recriminations on a host of issues, including the border dispute, reported Chinese incursions and Beijing’s repeated claims on India’s northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh.

All these issues were discussed in the meeting, official sources said.

India also raised the issue of a dam being built on the Chinese side of the Brahmaputra river, that has generated anxieties of water scarcity in India’s Northeast.

The recent Chinese practice of issuing separate visas to residents of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, that is seen here as an oblique way of questioning India’s sovereignty over a region that is also claimed by Pakistan, also figured in the discussions.

“We agreed on the importance of further developing high-level exchanges for enhancing trade and economic cooperation and on defence contacts,” Krishna said.

The two sides also decided to expand their cultural ties and people-to-people contacts. These will be in focus during the celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of India-China relations next year.

The two foreign ministers welcomed the positive outcome of the meetings between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on the sidelines of multilateral summits in Hua Hin resort in Thailand, and decided to develop their economic, cultural and defence relations.

The two prime ministers had agreed “to narrow differences” over the border dispute and to maintain “peace and tranquility” along their disputed border.

“We … agreed that existing mechanism for bilateral cooperation should be used to resolve all issues amicably in the spirit of strategic and cooperative partnership,” Manmohan Singh had said.

Krishna accepted Yang’s invitation to visit Beijing. Dates will be be worked out, he said.