By AMY LOUISE KAZMIN

NEW DELHI, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- Chinese President Jiang Zemin was due to visit India this week in what New Delhi considers a significant step in the historically rocky relations between the giant neighbors, officials said Tuesday.

Sticky issues including reports of China's support for Pakistan's nuclear program and troop deployments along the 2,500 mile (4,020 km) Sino-India border are on the agenda for discussions during the visit, Indian Foreign Secretary Salman Haider said.

The high-level meetings are aimed at strengthening trade ties and fostering a "a cooperative relationship free from suspicion and lingering doubts," Haider told journalists in the Indian capital.

India and China have been working over the last decade to normalize their frosty relations, which deteriorated after Bejing sent troops to take control of the formerly autonomous province of Tibet in 1951.

In 1959, New Delhi aroused Beijing's ire by providing asylum to the fleeing Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and 85,000 of his followers, who had been involved in an abortive uprising against Chinese rule.

In 1962, Chinese troops invaded a portion of Ladakh, a remote Himalayan region under Indian control, and annexed the area. The invasion spurred a major Indian military build-up.

Yet despite the unresolved border issues, relations between the Asian giants have improved in recent years, spurred in part by the desire to increase trade as part of modernization programs in both countries.

In 1995, bilateral trade, which was just $339 million in 1992, reached $1.6 billion.

The two countries are now hammering out agreements for mutual protection of investments and to permit direct shipping between India and China. Haider said the agreements will be signed during Jiang's visit if they are ready.

The two countries are already expected to sign agreements for confidence building measures along the border, joint efforts to prevent crime and drug trafficking and for India to maintain a consulate in Hong Kong after China takes over next year.

Jiang, who is due to arrive in New Delhi Thursday, will be accompanied by China's foreign minister, the minister for foreign trade and economic cooperation, and the chairman of the Tibetan Autonomous Region government.