India and China will hold the first-ever 'strategic dialogue' on January 24 in New Delhi to discuss major global and regional issues that will help enhance bilateral cooperation and coordination, official sources said in Beijing [Images] on Friday.

"This will be the first meeting of the strategic dialogue between India and China and the main focus will be the big global issues," one official said.

India will be represented by Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran while the Chinese side would be headed by Vice Foreign Minister for Asian Affairs Wu Dawei.

The aim of the strategic dialogue is to broaden the scope of the blooming bilateral relationship, allowing both sides to exchange notes on global and regional security issues, the official said.

For example, the two sides are expected to exchange views on the stalled North Korean nuclear issue, a topic personally handled by Wu as the host of the six-party talks on a sensitive issue that has severe implications for the
security and stability of Asia.

The six-party talks between the United States, North Korea, South Korea, China, Japan [Images] and Russia [Images] on Pyongyang's
nuclear programmes has hit a major roadblock.

A fourth round of scheduled talks in Beijing last September did not materialise amid serious differences between Pyongyang and Washington.