NEW DELHI: India and China held another round of talks today aimed at resolving a long-standing border dispute that triggered conflict between the Asian giants nearly five decades ago.

India’s National Security Advisor MK Narayanan met China’s State Councillor Dai Bingguo for the 13th round of talks to settle the dispute. India and China appointed special representatives in 2003 to speed up a resolution to the border row.

The two countries “intend to improve the entire state relations to see how we can further strengthen our boundaries,” Narayanan told reporters immediately before meeting Dai for the closed-door talks.

Details of the outcome of the discussions were not divulged.

India says China occupies 38,000 square km of its Himalayan territory, while Beijing claims all of Arunachal Pradesh, which is 90,000 square kilometres. A formal ceasefire line was never drawn after 1962, but the militarised border has remained mostly peaceful, especially since 1996, when the two sides signed a historic pact to maintain “tranquillity” on their rontiers.

Efforts to resolve the dispute come amid stepped-up political and trade contact between

the two nations.