China had in August denied a visa to an Indian general in charge of operations in the disputed Kashmir region. The Indian source said that as part of the compromise with Beijing, the delegation would be headed by another general. "If you've agreed to my point, I can't run you down to the ground. They have to save face, as the Chinese say," the source said, declining to be identified as he is not authorized to speak to the media.

"But after this trip, things will be back on track," he said, referring to the resumption of defense exchanges. India protested in 2009 against a Chinese Embassy policy of issuing different visas to residents of Indian Kashmir. New Delhi bristles at any hint that Kashmir, where a separatist insurgency has raged for two decades, is not part of India.