Ajit Doval Arrives in Beijing for 25th Round of India-China Boundary Talks

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval arrived in Beijing on Monday for a two-day visit that will include the 25th round of Special Representatives talks on the India-China boundary question.

Doval, India’s Special Representative on the issue, is scheduled to meet Chinese Foreign Minister and Politburo member Wang Yi on Tuesday. He will also call on Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, according to the Ministry of External Affairs.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said the talks would involve in-depth communication on the boundary question. The two sides will continue discussions in the spirit of understandings reached by their leaders, with the aim of keeping border areas peaceful and tranquil.

The meeting follows the 24th round held in August 2025, when both sides agreed to set up an Expert Group under the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs. That group was tasked with exploring early harvest measures in boundary delimitation.

Officials from both countries met under the same mechanism on August 6 this year. They reviewed the situation along the Line of Actual Control and exchanged views on boundary delimitation, border management, mechanism-building and trans-border cooperation.

China has described the current border situation as generally stable. India has stressed that the overall state of bilateral relations depends on peace and tranquillity along the border.

The timing of Doval’s visit is notable. It comes weeks before India hosts the BRICS summit on September 12 and 13. There remains uncertainty over whether Chinese President Xi Jinping will travel to India for the event, which would mark his first visit in seven years and include bilateral talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Relations between the two countries deteriorated sharply after the 2020 Galwan Valley clash and the subsequent military standoff in eastern Ladakh. Disengagement has occurred at several friction points, yet differences over Arunachal Pradesh and the broader boundary framework persist.

Both sides have maintained diplomatic and military channels, including local commander-level meetings, to manage day-to-day issues and avoid miscalculation. The Special Representatives mechanism remains the primary political channel for addressing the boundary question itself.

Doval’s presence in Beijing gives the two governments an opportunity to take stock of the wider relationship at a moment when regional and global issues also demand attention. The talks are expected to cover bilateral, regional and international matters beyond the boundary.

Whether the meeting produces concrete steps toward an early harvest agreement or simply consolidates existing understandings will become clearer after Tuesday’s discussions. For now, the arrival itself signals that both capitals continue to invest in structured dialogue even as strategic competition continues.