Monday, January 9 2006 10:29 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Beijing: India and China began the second round of strategic dialogue here today (Jan 09, 2006) aimed at increasing their mutual understanding as well as enhancing cooperation and coordination in regional and global affairs.

While Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran is leading the Indian side, the Chinese delegation is headed by Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, who is in charge of Asian affairs.

The two sides will have in-depth exchange of views on bilateral, regional and international issues of common concern, official sources said.

They said that a Plenary session is scheduled for the morning and the meeting would continue in the afternoon as well.

Ahead of the talks, a senior Chinese official said, "the Chinese Government firmly pursues the policy of developing long-term, stable, good-neighbourly and cooperative relations with India".

"The Chinese side is ready to work closely with the Indian side to further expand friendly exchanges, strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation, and continuously enrich the contents of the strategic and cooperative partnership between our two countries", the official told sources.

The second round of the India-China Strategic Dialogue is the first since New Delhi and Beijing agreed to qualitatively upgrade their bilateral relations to strategic levels during Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to India in April last year.

During Wen's visit, India and China had agreed to upgrade their relations and establish a 'Strategic and Cooperative Partnership for Peace and Prosperity'.

It is also the first major bilateral event this year, which is being marked as the 'India China Friendship Year' and is expected to be utilised by two sides to instil greater confidence and cooperation between the two Asian giants.

The first strategic dialogue between the two sides was held in New Delhi on January 24 last year.

Saran may also use the visit and talks to discuss UN reforms, including India's bid to become a permanent member of the Security Council. China, which says it backs India's aspiration to become a permanent member of the UNSC has, however, backed out citing New Delhi's alliance with Japan, a country with which Beijing has sour political relations.

Interestingly, the Foreign Secretary is in Beijing days after India, Brazil and Germany re tabled the G-4 draft resolution on UNSC reforms. However, Japan has abstained from the move this time. It is unclear whether Beijing will review its stand on the G-4 draft.