Chinese Defense Minister General Liang Guanglie's five-day visit is aimed at avoiding military-related "turbulence" on the border with India. The visit will help chart the road map for greater military exchanges minus the acrimony that has arisen from time to time, said government sources.

Liang's visit to India this week, the first by a Chinese defense minister in eight years, should help put the bilateral military relations on a firmer footing.

The conversation between Liang and defense minister A.K. Antony must necessarily go beyond the bilateral to include the new and potentially dangerous military dynamic that has begun to envelop Asia.

The Chinese defense minister is being accompanied by a 23-member high-level delegation which includes high ranking members of the Chinese defense and military establishment. Enhancement of measures for maintenance of peace and tranquility along the borders and facilitation of confidence building measures between the armed forces of both the countries are expected to be discussed.

This is the first time in eight years that a Chinese defense minister is visiting India, a sign of likely traction in bilateral military ties. When Antony meets Liang, they are likely to signal cordiality between the two nations and may work out a bilateral military interface and facilitate intervention from their respective foreign offices to prevent border flare-up.

A rare visit to India by China's defense minister should help prevent flare-ups along the border between the nuclear-armed Asian giants. There he sought to play down Indian fears that China is threading a "string of pearls" - or encircling it by financing infrastructure and military strength stretching from Pakistan to the Maldives.

(China Daily 09/05/2012 page11)