India-China hotline set up

Agreeing that they needed to build mutual political trust, India and China on Tuesday set up a hotline between their foreign ministers and decided to liberalise visa regimes as part of initiatives to strengthen their ties.

China also sought to allay concerns in India over its recent anti-satellite missile test, saying it was carried out only for scientific reasons and was not targeted against any country.

At the talks between External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing here, the two sides also stressed that their Special Representatives needed to "further intensify" their dialogue for early settlement of the boundary issue on the basis of 'Political Parameters and Guiding Principles' signed in 2005.

A hotline has been set up between the foreign ministers, India's Ambassador to China Nirupama Rao told journalists after the two-and-a-half hour talks between Mukherjee and Li that covered bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interest.