On Board Air India One, January 16: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Tuesday night that the border dispute with China was a "complex and complicated issue" and would take some time to be resolved.

But Special Representatives of both countries have been instructed to "accelerate" efforts to work out an agreed framework for its resolution, the prime minister told reporters accompanying him as he returned from a three-day visit to China, his first there as prime minister.

Singh also said that irrespective of the "final solution" on the boundary dispute, leaderships of the two countries have reiterated that "peace and tranquillity should be maintained along the border" in accordance with past agreements between them. He said his visit, which was confined to Beijing, was "very constructive and productive" and characterised by "frankness and great warmth".

He said the visit, which included detailed talks with his counterpart Wen Jiabao and a long meeting with President Hu Jintao, "marks the maturity of a strategic cooperative partnership" for peace and development between them.

China's growth, he said, was a "phenomenal story of what development should be about" and said engaging in business with China "is a historic responsibility and a historic necessity". "They (China) have understood that engaging India is also in the interest of China," he said.

On the situation in Pakistan, the Prime Minister said that China was "shocked" by the assassination of former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto and wanted the leaderships of India and China to "consult each other more often" on the situation in that country.

"I did get a feeling while talking to President Hu Jintao that the Chinese leadership is concerned about the situation. They were shocked by the death Benazir Bhutto, her assassination," the prime minister told reporters accompanying him on his return from a three-day visit to China.

Manmohan Singh said: "President Hu recognised the problems in Pakistan and agreed that a strong, stable, moderate Pakistan is in India's interests and in the interests of Asia." He felt that it was "necessary for both India and China to consult each other more frequently on the issue".