Doval Holds 25th Round of India-China Border Talks With Wang Yi in Beijing

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval held the 25th round of Special Representatives talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing on Tuesday, as the two countries continue efforts to stabilise ties strained by years of border tension. The meeting comes weeks ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's anticipated visit to New Delhi for the BRICS summit scheduled for September 12-13.

What Was Discussed

Doval, who arrived in Beijing on a two-day visit on Monday, first called on Chinese Vice President Han Zheng before proceeding to the formal Special Representatives dialogue with Wang Yi. According to a post by the Indian Embassy in Beijing, the two sides discussed measures to strengthen peace and stability along the border and to broaden cooperation across economic, political and multilateral channels, in line with prior understandings reached between the two countries' leaders.

The Special Representatives mechanism, in place since 2003, remains the principal channel through which New Delhi and Beijing negotiate the long-unresolved dispute over their roughly 3,488-kilometre shared border. Tuesday's talks were expected to cover the status of existing disengagement arrangements in eastern Ladakh, confidence-building measures, protocols for managing the border, and the possibility of incremental progress on delimitation in less contested stretches of the frontier. Broader bilateral matters — including flights, visas and trade — were also on the agenda, alongside a review of regional and international issues of mutual interest.

Why This Round Matters

Relations between the two countries deteriorated sharply following the 2020 Galwan Valley clash and the extended military standoff that followed in eastern Ladakh. Since then, both governments have taken incremental steps toward de-escalation, including troop disengagement in friction points and a gradual resumption of high-level contacts. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian, briefing reporters in Beijing on Monday, described the Special Representatives talks as the "main channel" for the two sides to negotiate the boundary question and said this round would build on understandings reached during the 24th round of talks held roughly a year earlier.

The timing adds further significance to the meeting. With Xi Jinping expected to travel to India for the BRICS summit, this round of talks is widely seen as a checkpoint for whether the fragile improvement in ties can be sustained into a leader-level meeting between Xi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who last met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Tianjin in August 2025. Lin declined to directly confirm details of Xi's travel plans when asked at Monday's briefing.

The Broader Picture

Despite the diplomatic engagement, differences over the border — including disputes concerning Arunachal Pradesh — continue to weigh on the relationship. Officials on both sides have nonetheless continued to describe the Special Representatives framework as a useful, if imperfect, tool for managing recurring friction even where a comprehensive resolution remains elusive. No formal joint statement had been issued by the two sides at the time of writing, with further details on outcomes expected in the coming days as both governments release their respective readouts.

This article is an original editorial summary based on publicly reported information. It has been independently written for publication and does not reproduce content from any single source.