Doval and Wang hold 25th special representatives talks in Beijing

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 meeting followed Doval's call on Chinese Vice President Han Zheng earlier the same day. The Indian Embassy in Beijing said the two discussed ways to strengthen peace and tranquility in the border areas and further improve bilateral relations across economic, political and multilateral fora, in accordance with the consensus reached between the leaders of the two countries.

Doval later stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping have given a clear and positive direction to the India-China relationship, which has been steadily returning to normalcy.

The Special Representatives mechanism was established in 2003 to address the 3,488 km border dispute comprehensively. Doval and Wang are the designated Special Representatives for their respective sides.

The talks come ahead of Xi Jinping's expected visit to India next month for the BRICS Summit on September 12-13, his first trip to the country in seven years. Ties have improved gradually after the October 2024 meeting between Modi and Xi in Kazan, Russia, and subsequent contacts including the SCO Summit in Tianjin.

Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, according to Xinhua, said China and India should view and handle bilateral relations from a strategic and long-term perspective and work together to implement the important consensus reached by their leaders.

Doval arrived in Beijing on August 24 for the two-day visit at Wang's invitation. The discussions also reviewed the broader relationship at a time when both sides seek to institutionalise stability along the Line of Actual Control while differences on the boundary and related issues remain.

A Chinese strategic affairs scholar, Hu Shisheng, noted ahead of the talks that structural differences have not disappeared, yet the focus would be on institutionalising stability.