India and China will look for ways to promote military relations and bury distrust during the first visit by a Chinese Defence Minister in a decade this week. Relations between the world?s most populous countries, which went to war in 1962, have improved in recent years on the back of booming trade but an unsettled Himalayan border and nuclear proliferation in the region remain stumbling blocks. ?We both have concerns, these talks are aimed at making sure there are no misperceptions in the leadership of the countries,? said an Indian Defence Ministry official.

The two sides will discuss new confidence building measures along the 3,500-km border and greater military exchanges in the talks between Chinese Defence Minister Cao Gangchuan and his Indian counterpart George Fernandes. Cao reached India on Friday but official talks begin only today, officials said. New Delhi has repeatedly expressed concern about what it says are Chinese missile transfers to traditional ally Pakistan, a charge dismissed by both Islamabad and Beijing.