Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Saturday he believes a border dispute over an alleged incursion by Chinese soldiers can be resolved, the Press Trust of India reported.

"It is a localized problem, we do believe it can be solved," Singh was quoted as saying by the news agency.

Singh's statement came after India's Defense Secretary Shashi Kant Sharma presented a report on the incursion to a parliamentary watchdog Friday in which local media said he alleged Chinese soldiers had advanced nearly 20 kilometers into Indian-claimed territory.

However, China has denied any wrongdoing.

The prime minister's comments, his first on the dispute, echoed statements of other government ministers playing down the alleged incursion in the western part of Kashmir's Ladakh region and insisting it can be settled amicably.

"We have a plan, we do not want to accentuate the situation," Singh said, without elaborating.

Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid announced earlier in the week he will head for China on May 8, saying both countries had a mutual interest in not allowing the dispute to "destroy" long-term progress in ties. An Indian foreign ministry official has said new Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is due to travel to New Delhi late next month, without giving an exact date.

AFP