Doval and Wang hold 25th India-China border talks in Beijing under Modi-Xi guidance

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held the 25th round of Special Representatives talks on the India-China boundary question in Beijing on August 25, 2026. The discussions focused on maintaining peace and tranquillity along the Line of Actual Control and exploring steps toward boundary delimitation.

Doval told Wang that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping have given a clear and positive direction to the relationship. He said the normalcy seen in bilateral ties has come directly from both sides keeping the border areas calm. The two leaders met for several hours, first in a small group for more than 90 minutes and then with full delegations.

Earlier the same day, Doval called on Chinese Vice President Han Zheng. They discussed ways to strengthen peace in the border areas and to improve relations across economic, political and multilateral channels, in line with the consensus reached by the two leaders.

The talks come weeks before Xi Jinping is expected to visit India for the BRICS summit on September 12-13. That would be Xi’s first trip to India in seven years. Doval described the current round as especially important because of the upcoming summit.

India and China established the Special Representatives mechanism in 2003 to address the full boundary dispute, which stretches 3,488 km. The two sides have held regular working-level meetings on the border. China has described the situation as generally stable. India has continued to stress that the state of the overall relationship depends on conditions on the ground.

In opening remarks, Doval referred to the guidance from the leaders’ meetings in Kazan in 2024 and in Tianjin last year. Wang described the discussions as very in-depth and candid and expressed hope for new consensus.

Both sides reviewed progress on border management mechanisms and cross-border cooperation. They also took stock of the broader relationship, which has been recovering after the prolonged military standoff that began in 2020.

The Indian Embassy in Beijing confirmed that Doval and Han discussed practical steps to consolidate peace and expand engagement. Xinhua quoted Han as saying the two countries should view the relationship from a strategic and long-term perspective and implement the leaders’ consensus.

The border remains the central unresolved issue. Differences over the alignment of the Line of Actual Control, particularly in the eastern and western sectors, continue. Yet both governments have chosen to keep channels open and to avoid escalation while the political relationship stabilises.

Doval’s two-day visit to Beijing marks another step in the careful, measured process of rebuilding trust. The outcome of the 25th round will shape the atmosphere for the leaders’ interactions in the coming weeks, including at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit and at BRICS in New Delhi.

Officials on both sides have avoided announcing any breakthrough on the boundary itself. The emphasis remains on reinforcing existing mechanisms that have kept the frontier quiet and on creating conditions for further dialogue.