Since then, the thawing of Sino-Indian relations has continued unabated. Bilateral relations today are a far cry from 1962, when the two countries fought a brief border war in which India lost large amounts of land to the Peoples' Liberation Army. It was a humiliating defeat for India and contacts between the two countries remained at a minimum until the historic visit by the Indian Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, to China in 1988. After that visit both countries gradually reduced the level of troops on their borders and Chinese and Indian military commanders in sensitive posts began to meet on a regular basis. However, differences between the two countries still exist.
China remains concerned about Delhi's nuclear capacity.
China is concerned over India's nuclear programme It refuses to acknowledge that the tiny Himalyan state of Sikkim is part of India. India says that it is still concerned about China's traditionally warm relationship with Pakistan. Delhi says that over the years Beijing has supplied Islamabad with technology to make nuclear weapons in addition to numerous conventional arms. Although this is something that has been consistently denied by Beijing, the focus of Indian policy in its relations to China has been to try and discourage Chinese military backing to Islamabad. Delhi is also eager to develop stronger trade relations with its neighbour to the north.