DHAKA: Government officials from Australia, China and Malaysia pledged on Monday not to give up searching for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 that disappeared almost two months ago, despite lingering questions about how to proceed and who will pay.

No trace of the jetliner has been found since it vanished on a scheduled service from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, despite the most intensive search in commercial aviation history.

A majority of the 239 people on board were Chinese nationals.

Experts have narrowed the search area where the plane is presumed to have crashed to a large arc of the Indian Ocean about 1,600 km north-west of the west Australian city of Perth.

But after weeks of scouring millions of square kilometres without finding any sign of debris, Australian authorities have called off the air and surface search.

A new search phase costing around A$60 million will begin after existing visual and sonar search data is analysed and a contractor is found to lease the sophisticated equipment needed, the officials said after meeting in Canberra.

Financial responsibility is a major focus of the talks and Australian deputy prime minister Warren Truss seemed to open the door to Boeing, which produced the 777-200ER jet, and engine maker Rolls Royce, to contribute financially.

‘They also have a vested interested in what happened on MH370 so they can be confident about the quality of their product, or take remedial action if there was some part of the aircraft that contributed to this accident,’ he told reporters, according to The Straits Times.

‘So, I think we will be looking for increasing involvement from the manufacturers, and their host countries.’

BDST: 1613 HRS, MAY 05, 2014