Delhi: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on June 28 briefed an informal meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on his just-concluded China visit during which India and China signed the first-ever joint declaration outlining the road map for bolstering bilateral ties.

"The meeting was about the China visit", External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha said after the hour- long deliberations but did not elaborate.

Vajpayee returned from his six-day visit during which he signed a historic trade protocol opening border trade between the two countries from the Nathu La pass in Sikkim and the Joint Declaration pledging to resolve the vexed border problem speedily.

Asked whether the issue of sending troops to Iraq figured during the meeting, the Minister shook his head, indicating it had not come up.

Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, Defence Minister George Fernandes and Finance Minister Jaswant Singh attended the meeting. National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra and Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal were also present.

PTI