Chennai, April 22
The 10th round of talks of the Joint Working Group (JWG) on the India-China border dispute were held at Coonoor in Ughammagalam district of Tamil Nadu, 650 km from here, today.

While the Indian side was represented by national security adviser M.K. Narayanan, the Chinese side was represented by its vice-foreign minister Dai Binggou. India's ambassador to Beijing Nirupama Rao and her counterpart in New Delhi San Yu Si were also present in the talks.

The talks were held at a five-star hotel in Coonoor in the Niligiris range on the Western Ghats. Both groups will leave for New Delhi tomorrow.

Though total secrecy was observed and no formal briefings were held about the talks, it was learnt that the two teams discussed the problem related to the Tawang region in Arunachal Pradesh, which China had been claiming as its own territory.

While China has staked claim to 90,000 sq km of Indian territory, India had been accusing China of illegally occupying 43,180 sq km in the Kashmir and Ladakh region. This also includes 5,180 sq km illegally ceded to China by Pakistan under the Sino-Pakistan boundary agreement in 1963.

Both teams held a round of talks in New Delhi yesterday before calling on Prime Minster Manmohan Singh.

Security was extremely tight at Taj Retreat, the venue of the talks. The hotel is out of bounds for tourists till tomorrow.

Meanwhile, as a mark of protest against the visit of the Chinese delegation, 75-odd Tibetan families in Ooty, mostly engaged in selling woollen garments outside the Botanical Gardens, kept their shops closed today.