"It's pretty clear where India's going, and one would anticipate the relationship with India will continue to strengthen as we go through the period ahead," Rumsfeld said before he arrived here Friday afternoon.

"With respect to China, it's not completely clear which way they're going because of the tension... between the nature of their political system and the nature of their economic system," he told reporters.

Rumsfeld compared and contrasted the prospects of the two Asian giants as he flew here from Washington to attend an annual international security conference that draws defence ministers from around the region.

In remarks to reporters travelling with him, he would not be drawn on the standoff with North Korea over its nuclear weapons program and alluded only glancingly to a Chinese military buildup that has caused concern in Washington.

But he was expected to air US concerns on both North Korea and China's military spending in a keynote speech Saturday to the conference organised by the International Institute of Strategic Studies as well as in one-on-one meetings with other defence ministers.

His comments to reporters made clear that the Pentagon is looking to India as an anchor in its security relationships in the region. Rumsfeld recalled that he made the first overtures to India within weeks of becoming defence secretary in 2001.