New Delhi, February 13:

The foreign ministers of the world’s two most populous countries, India and China, today held talks to further normalise ties and move past a bitter 1962 border war.

Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing, who arrived in New Delhi on Sunday, discussed increasing air links and easing visa rules with his Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee, said an Indian official who wished to remain unnamed.

Li arrived ahead of Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov for talks tomorrow between the three nations on regional issues such as terrorism and drug trafficking, as well as the situations in Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and North Korea. The trilateral relationship between India, China and Russia was first proposed by

former Russian prime minister Yevgeny Primakov during a visit to New Delhi in 1998.

Today’s meeting was the first contact between economic and strategic rivals India and China after Beijing conducted a satellite-killing missile test last month. The Chinese test drew sharp responses from Canberra, Washington and Tokyo and also rattled New Delhi, with several Indian officials and leaders warning against the militarisation of outer space.

Li and his Indian host, Pranab Mukherjee, were also slated to discuss the border dispute that led to the 1962 conflict, the Indian foreign ministry official said.

A formal ceasefire line was never established after the war but the border has remained mostly peaceful after agreements were signed in 1993 and 1996.

New Delhi says Beijing occupies 38,000 square km of Indian territory in the disputed region of Kashmir, illegally ceded to it by Pakistan in the 1950s.

Beijing, in turn, claims 90,000 square km in Indian-administered Arunachal Pradesh.

During a visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao to New Delhi in November, the two sides decided to give priority to a resolution of the border row. Last month, special representatives of both countries — appointed in 2003 — held another round of talks in New Delhi to resolve the border dispute.