Doval and Wang Hold 25th Special Representatives Talks on India-China Boundary 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.

Doval told the Chinese side that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping had given a clear and positive direction to the relationship. He said the normalcy seen over the past year was a direct result of both countries maintaining peace and tranquillity in the border areas.

The two Special Representatives discussed ways to reinforce that peace, make progress on boundary delimitation, strengthen border management mechanisms and expand cross-border cooperation. They also reviewed the broader bilateral relationship in the run-up to the BRICS summit scheduled for September in India, where Xi is expected to visit.

Earlier the same day Doval called on Chinese Vice President Han Zheng. The Indian Embassy in Beijing said the two discussed strengthening peace and tranquillity in the border areas and improving relations across economic, political and multilateral forums in line with the consensus reached by the two leaders.

The Special Representatives mechanism was established in 2003 to address the 3,488-kilometre boundary dispute. Doval and Wang are the designated representatives for their respective countries. The talks included small-group discussions lasting more than 90 minutes as well as larger delegation-level meetings.

In his opening remarks Doval noted that the talks were being held in accordance with the guidance provided at the leaders’ meetings in Kazan in October 2024 and Tianjin in 2025. He said both sides had extensively discussed how to consolidate efforts to keep the border calm. “We have extensively talked about it today just to see how to effectively reinforce and further consolidate our efforts to maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas,” he said.

The Chinese side described the exchange as in-depth and candid. Wang expressed readiness to strengthen communication and work toward good-neighbourly and mutually beneficial partnership. Beijing’s readout emphasised advancing boundary delimitation negotiations, improving mechanism-building and promoting cross-border cooperation. Wang stated that China and India are important neighbours and major developing economies whose stable ties serve the interests of both countries and carry significance beyond the bilateral relationship.

Both sides expressed satisfaction at the steady resumption of people-to-people exchanges, including the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra and border trade through the three designated passes. The Indian Ministry of External Affairs noted progress in implementing the consensus reached by the leaders and said the two sides agreed to continue seeking a political settlement of the boundary question in the context of their overall and long-term interests.

The next round of Special Representatives talks is scheduled to take place in India in 2027.

The discussions occur against the background of a gradual thaw that began after the Modi-Xi meeting in Kazan. That meeting followed the prolonged military standoff in eastern Ladakh that started in 2020. Disengagement at several friction points has allowed a return to more regular diplomatic and economic engagement, though differences over the alignment of the Line of Actual Control and the status of Arunachal Pradesh remain unresolved.

Chinese strategic affairs scholar Hu Shisheng had said ahead of the talks that the focus would be on institutionalising stability even as structural differences in the relationship remained. The current phase is widely seen as one of managing the dispute rather than resolving the core territorial claims.

Doval’s two-day visit to Beijing provided an opportunity for the two sides to take stock before the high-level multilateral gathering next month. Whether the talks produce concrete new confidence-building measures or simply reaffirm existing understandings will become clearer in the weeks ahead as preparations for the BRICS summit continue.

The boundary question has long constrained the full potential of India-China relations. Maintaining calm on the frontier remains the practical foundation for any further expansion of trade, investment and people-to-people ties. Both governments appear intent on preserving that foundation at least through the period of the forthcoming summit.