"We have a vision of a more robust regional integration in Asia, perhaps in the form of a pan-Asian Free Trade Area or even an Asian economic community," a senior foreign ministry official told a conference.

The two-day conference is aimed at promoting economic cooperation between Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar.

Official Rajiv Sikri also said the relationship between India and China, who fought a brief but bitter war in 1962, had been "overwhelmingly positive" in recent years.

The "India-China partnership is an important determinant for regional and global peace and development, and crucial for Asias emergence as a pole of growth and influence in the 21st century," Sikri said.

Neighbours India and China have been working on ways to remove mutual suspicion -- a legacy of the 1962 war -- and enhance ties.

Earlier this month, Indian and Chinese officials met for talks to settle a boundary dispute dating back to the 1962 war.

India says China occupies 38,000 square kilometres (15,200 square miles) of Indian territory in Kashmir while Beijing claims 90,000 square kilometres of the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh.

A formal ceasefire line was never established after the war but the border has remained mostly peaceful.