The incident came at a defence seminar in Mumbai at the weekend, the Indian Express daily said, and weeks before special envoys from New Delhi and Beijing were to meet in a bid to resolve the long-standing dispute.

India's Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee reportedly referred to "the Chinese invasion in 1962" and said: "We cannot keep our eyes shut. China has solved border disputes with 10 neighbours, except India and Bhutan."

He reportedly also said that "we have differences" on Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh -- areas disputed since the brief but bitter 1962 conflict which left ties between the world's most populous countries in shreds.

The minister added that the Sikkim dispute had been resolved during Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's April visit to India.

His remarks drew a strong reaction from the Chinese consul general, Song Deheng, who was present at the event, the report said.

"I cannot agree with the words 'China invaded India'," Song was quoted as saying. "As a defence minister, you must know the background of the war.

"You also mentioned border disputes. I don't know what you mean by mentioning this issue in your speech."

Song told reporters later that "the war was in self-defence" and that he could not agree with the words "invasion and aggression".

Mukherjee reportedly said he had been misunderstood and that India greatly "values its friendship with China", adding however that there were differences of opinion on issues concerning Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim.

The verbal duel comes weeks before special envoys appointed by the two governments in 2003 were to meet to resolve the pending dispute.

India says China is occupying 38,000 square kilometres (14,670 square miles) of its territory in the Himalayan state of Kashmir, an area it says was illegally ceded to Beijing by Pakistan in the 1950s.

Beijing, in turn, claims the remote Indian-administered state of Arunachal Pradesh belongs to China.

A formal ceasefire line has yet to be agreed, but the unsettled frontier has remained largely peaceful, thanks to agreements signed in 1993 and 1996.

All rights reserved. © 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.