India, China resume fraught military ties

An eight-member Indian military delegation arrived in Beijing today on a week-long goodwill visit to China, marking the resumption of defence ties that had been frozen for a year, reports the Press Trust of India (PTI).

Military exchanges were frozen after it emerged that China was stapling, rather than glueing, visas to the passports of travelers from Indian-administered Kashmir — implying that the Indian passports from that disputed region were not wholly kosher. Around the same time, the two countries sparred over the disputed borders of the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, though China said India's media exaggerated the affair.

The decision to resume military ties was announced after a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese President Hu Jintao on the sidelines of BRICS summit in Hainan, China, this April.

But hawks in both nations continue to use the specter of conflict to lobby for additional military spending, and relations remain tense due to China's support for Pakistan.