Delegates at the India-China talks take a stroll in Coonoor’s Botanical gardens. Telegraph picture

Coonoor (Tamil Nadu), April 22: The ninth round of India-China border talks ended today with heady assessments.

National security adviser M.K. Narayanan spoke of “making progress”. Chinese vice-foreign minister Dai Bingguo had a more optimistic take: he said Beijing “was keen to reach an early settlement to the border row”.

After several rounds last evening and a three-hour session this morning at the Taj Garden Retreat in Coonoor, the negotiators gave themselves a break: a trip to Ooty’s famous Botanical gardens. “There is a resolve on both sides to move forward,” said Narayanan, smiling amid the flowers in bloom and the foliage.

Dai, too, offered the right soundbites. “The entire world is watching India and China. Both nations should work for the common development of people,” he said in the informal interaction with the media at the 22-hectare garden.

The officials drove back to the venue for another session tonight. A joint official statement on the negotiations will be issued in New Delhi in the next few days.

The personal vibes were great, too. Dai dubbed Narayanan a “very articulate, very wise and an experienced negotiator”. The national security adviser returned the compliment, saying Dai was a “brilliant negotiator”.

Dai remembered fondly his talks with Narayanan’s predecessors, Brajesh Mishra and J.N. Dixit. “Unfortunately, Dixit passed away,” he said, pausing for a while. Narayanan has led the talks from the fifth round.

The Chinese minister spoke encouragingly about the visit of 500 Chinese students to a leading technology institute in Tamil Nadu this year to learn the basics of engineering in English. He hoped more Indians students would go to China.

Dai said both countries, being ancient civilisations, needed to be “good friends, good neighbours and good partners”.

In the garden, though, the Chinese were busy being good visitors. As they were taken around, they clicked away on their digital cameras, often focusing on local tourists. Some girls, shown their pictures, cheered the guests.

Tibetan protest

A group of Tibetan refugee traders demonstrated against the visit of Dai’s team. Over 75 shops owned by them outside the Botanical gardens downed shutters in protest. The traders want Beijing to open talks with the Dalai Lama and restore “democracy and autonomy” to Tibet.

Around 15 protesters, a few of them women, lay on the road. The police had to use force to remove them, after which a 76-year-old woman had to be admitted to Ooty General Hospital. However, Nilgiris SP Vidya Kulkarni denied there was a baton charge.

As reports of the protest spread, security officers hustled the Chinese negotiators into their VIP vehicles and left Coonoor. This forced the cancellation of their pleasure trip to Toda tribal colony, another popular tourist spot. Both sides leave for Delhi on Monday morning.