Associated Press

New Delhi, January 24:

Indian and Chinese officials met today to discuss “strategic affairs” and prepare for a visit by China’s Premier Wen Jiabao in March, a Chinese Embassy spokeswoman said.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei held talks with India’s Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran and was to later meet External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh, said spokeswoman Yang Shuying. She declined to give details.

The two sides are likely to review progress made to settle a decades-old boundary dispute, and discuss the threat posed by terrorism and Islamic extremism in the region, said Sujit Dutta, an expert with the Institute for Defence and Security Analyses, a government-run think tank. They were also expected to look at strategic issues such as the US-led war on terrorism and energy security, he said. The border dispute centres on India’s Arunachal Pradesh and several other Indian border areas claimed by both.