Mukherjee, who had called on Wen on Tuesday evening before leaving for the northwest Chinese city of Dunhuang on the second leg of his six-day official visit to China, emphasised the need for "political will" to resolve the boundary dispute which vexed India-China bilateral ties. 

He pointed out that the special representatives on the boundary issue -- Indian National Security Adviser M K Narayanan and China's Executive Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo -- have agreed on the political parameters and guiding principles.

Wen is understood to have opined that there was a broad agreement and work should start on the basis of what has been decided as political parameters and guiding principles during his visit to India in April 2005.

Wen Jiabao in India: Complete coverage

The two governments appointed special representatives to address the border issue in June 2003, and the seventh round of talks was held in India in March.

India says China is illegally occupying 43,180 sq kms of Jammu and Kashmir [Images] including 5,180 sq km illegally ceded to Beijing by Islamabad under the Sino-Pakistan boundary agreement in 1963. China accuses India of possessing some 90,000 sq km of Chinese territory, mostly in Arunachal Pradesh.

Wen hailed the just-inked MoU on defence cooperation and said it will provide the framework and the authorities on both sides should work out the details for implementation.

Hope floats on the backwaters

Wen also mooted a proposal that India and China should try to work out a common approach in various multilateral fora on issues which both sides consider to be in their mutual interest.

The defence minister also had a delegation-level meeting with the Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission General Guo Boxiong.

India, China ink defence pact

The two sides had a frank exchange of views on various dimensions of defence cooperation. Modernisation of the armed forces by the two countries figured prominently at the discussion, official sources said. Both the sides appreciated that in the changing scenario, the two countries will pursue policies to upgrade and modernise their armed forces keeping in view their threat perceptions.

Mukherjee said the people of the two countries shared a common desire for peaceful and friendly relations. The Indian government would work with China to push for a strategic and cooperative partnership based on the five principles of peaceful co-existence, the official Xinhua news agency quoted Mukherjee as saying.

Responding to Mukherjee's remarks, Guo said that Chinese and Indian armed forces are forging a sound relationship of friendship and trust, and the two largest developing nations enjoyed a great potential in developing bilateral ties.

India & China: Seeking common ground

The ties between the two armed forces helped to promote the all-round growth of Sino-Indian relations and spur a good atmosphere for peace in border area, he said.

Mukherjee visited the ultra-sensitive Beijing Aero Space Command and Control Centre of the PLA, the world's largest standing army of over 2.5 million.

The defence minister will also visit the headquarters of Lanzhou military region in Lanzhou city in north-western China's Gansu Province and tour the Shanghai Naval Base in the country's economic hub in east China.

Mukherjee will leave for Singapore on June 2 to continue his three-nation official visit.

More reports from China