Peking sees prospects for detente with India

China said Sino-Indian relations, which have been strained for two decades, were likely to improve following recent border talks in Peking. India maintains that China occupies about 14,000 square miles of Indian territory at the western end of the border. China claims nearly 50,000 square miles of Indian-occupied territory at the eastern end. The two countries fought a short border war in 1962.