Beijing: China on June 23 proposed "phasing out" of historical Sino-Indian differences on the border dispute with the two countries agreeing to speed up a final solution to the contentious issue when Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao held "constructive and friendly" discussions.

Vajpayee, on the second day of his six-day official visit to China, met with Wen for a total of more than two hours at the imposing Great Hall of People where he was accorded a red carpet welcome and a ceremonial guard of honour.

At the outset the 78-year-old Vajpayee, the first Indian Prime Minister to visit the Middle Kingdom in ten years, told Wen, 18 years his junior, that their discussions should be held with "openness and frankness as between friends".

The two then covered the border dispute and other bilateral topics besides international and regional issues, including cross-border terrorism from Pakistan.

PTI