General Joginder Jaswant Singh said the plans had been discussed with visiting Chinese chief of general staff, General Liang Guanglie, who began a six-day tour on Monday.

Military ties between the two Asian giants have vastly improved and their soldiers have gone on joint mountaineering expeditions, played volleyball matches, exchanged gifts and shared meals on the frontier, Singh said.

"The momentum given by the leaders of our two countries is being enhanced further by the two militaries," he told reporters, referring to the upswing in diplomatic ties between the world's two most populous countries.

"On the roadmap of military-to-military cooperation in the future (are) exercises where both countries could carry out together to counter terrorism or on UN missions," he said on the sidelines of a defence technology conference in New Delhi.

Indian army officers visited China to witness military exercises last year and Chinese officers were invited to see manoeuvres by the Indian army and air force this year, he said.

These may be small steps for two of the world's largest defence forces but they indicate the growing warmth between them considering more than 3,200 Indian soldiers were killed in the brief border war in 1962, Indian defence officials said.