Canada and Denmark are firmly committed to the peaceful resolution of territorial disputes and will continue efforts to reach a long-term solution to the Hans Island dispute, declared a joint statement Monday.

The statement was issued in New York by Canadian Foreign Minister Pierre Pettigrew and his Danish counterpart Per Stig Moller, who met on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

Officials from both sides will meet again in the near future to discuss ways to resolve the matter, said the statement.

The two sides also agreed to inform each other of activities related to Hans Island and to keep contact with the island in a low key and restrained manner.

Praising the "excellent, long-standing bilateral relations as friends, allies and Arctic neighbors", the two sides also agreed to continue with joint scientific projects in the Arctic region.

The 1.3-km Island, long claimed by both sides, came into the center of a diplomatic row after Canadian Defense Minister made an unannounced stop to it during a trip to the Arctic in July.

The island sits between Canada's Ellesmere Island and Greenland of Denmark Bill Graham. The two countries were unable to agree on its fate when they drew a maritime border in 1973.

Source: Xinhua