Good omen for Sino-Indian ties

The post-Cold War period has seen the rising trend of military diplomacy. High-level military officials' visits, training of personnel in each other's military academies and joint military exercises to strengthen mutual trust and understanding among countries are becoming increasingly common.

In the same vein, given the centrality of "trust deficit" refrain in Sino-Indian discourse, the visit of China's Defense Minister General Liang Guanglie to India is primarily one of goodwill to rejuvenate China-India military-to-military interactions and help evolve better understanding of each other's strategic intentions and initiatives.

Most of the media commentaries, especially those from the West, however, have sought to sensationalize Liang's visit to India by highlighting that it is the first such visit in eight years. They project the visit as one aimed at resolving Sino-Indian differences and speculate on the potential of the two countries' militaries coming together to redefine regional security in the Asia-Pacific region.