XTE J1743-363 is a poorly known hard X-ray transient , that displays short and intense flares similar to those observed from Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients .
The probable optical counterpart shows spectral properties similar to those of an M8 III giant , thus suggesting that XTE J1743-363 belongs to the class of the Symbiotic X-ray Binaries .
In this paper we report on the first dedicated monitoring campaign of the source in the soft X-ray range with XMM-Newton and Swift /XRT .
These observations confirmed the association of XTE J1743-363 with the previously suggested M8 III giant and the classification of the source as a member of the Symbiotic X-ray binaries .
In the soft X-ray domain , XTE J1743-363 displays a high absorption ( \sim 6 \times 10 ^ { 22 } cm ^ { -2 } ) and variability on time scales of hundreds to few thousand seconds , typical of wind accreting systems .
A relatively faint flare ( peak X-ray flux 3 \times 10 ^ { -11 } erg/cm ^ { 2 } /s ) lasting \sim 4 ks is recorded during the XMM-Newton observation and interpreted in terms of the wind accretion scenario .