India's army chief General Nirmal Chandra Vij will pay a weeklong visit to China this month in the first such visit for a decade, reports said.  

Vij's visit, from December 22-29, includes meetings with top officers of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), the Times of India reported on Saturday.

The last Indian army chief to visit Beijing was General B.C. Joshi in July 1994, the Asian Age said.

General Fu Quanyou was the last PLA chief of staff to visit India in 1998, it said.

The media reports gave no details of the purpose of the visit and government officials were unavailable for comment.

Vij's visit to China comes just months after a visit to New Delhi by Chinese Defence Minister Cao Gangchuan in March.

The Asian giants fought a brief but bitter border war in 1962 that left their relations in shreds. But in recent years they have played down their territorial disputes to focus on improving commercial and other ties.

(Chinadaily.com.cn via agencies, December 19, 2004)