Ajit Doval Travels to Beijing for Boundary Talks Ahead of Possible Xi Visit
India's National Security Advisor begins the 25th round of Special Representatives talks on the boundary question with his Chinese counterpart.
Beijing1 min read
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National Security Advisor Ajit Doval arrived in Beijing on Monday for the 25th round of Special Representatives talks on the India-China boundary question. The meetings are scheduled for 23 and 24 August.
The talks come ahead of a possible visit to India next month by Chinese President Xi Jinping. Both sides have described the current round as an opportunity for an "early harvest" of confidence-building measures.
Doval will meet Wang Yi, China's foreign minister and the Chinese Special Representative. Discussions are expected to cover disengagement at remaining friction points, management of the Line of Actual Control, and broader stabilisation of the relationship after the 2020 Galwan clash.
India has insisted that peace on the border is a prerequisite for normal bilateral ties. China has emphasised the need to keep differences under control while expanding cooperation in other areas.
Previous rounds produced limited progress on troop pullbacks in some sectors. Full resolution of the boundary remains distant. The current talks focus on practical steps that can reduce the risk of new incidents.
The timing coincides with other high-level contacts. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is in Russia for the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission. Pakistan's army chief Asim Munir is also scheduled to visit Tehran on the same day.
Indian officials have not released a detailed agenda. They note that any progress will be measured by concrete changes on the ground rather than joint statements.
A successful early-harvest package could ease the path for a Xi visit and create space for economic and multilateral engagement. Failure to move forward would keep the relationship under the constraints that have defined it since 2020.
