India and China Hold 25th Special Representatives Talks on Boundary Question 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 25 August 2026.

Doval arrived in the Chinese capital the previous day at Wang’s invitation. He is also scheduled to call on Chinese Vice President Han Zheng during the two-day visit.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian described the Special Representatives mechanism as the main channel for negotiations on the boundary question and an important platform for communication on issues of mutual interest. He said the two sides would continue in-depth discussions in the spirit of common understandings reached by their leaders, with the aim of keeping the border areas peaceful and tranquil.

The talks come weeks before Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to travel to India for the BRICS Summit on 12-13 September 2026. That would mark Xi’s first visit to India in seven years and would likely include bilateral discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Both countries have been working to stabilise the relationship after the military standoff in eastern Ladakh that followed the 2020 Galwan Valley clash. Disengagement arrangements reached in October 2024 at several friction points remain in place, though full restoration of pre-2020 patrolling rights and the status of buffer zones at locations such as Galwan, Gogra, Hot Springs and Pangong Tso continue to feature in discussions.

In August 2025, during the 24th round held when Wang visited India, the two sides agreed on the need to take a political perspective of the overall bilateral relationship while seeking a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable framework for settlement of the boundary question in accordance with the 2005 Agreement on Political Parameters and Guiding Principles. They also decided to set up an Expert Group under the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on border affairs to explore early harvest in boundary delimitation, and to create general-level mechanisms in the eastern and middle sectors in addition to the existing one in the western sector.

A meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination took place on 6 August 2026. Officials reviewed the situation along the Line of Actual Control and exchanged views on boundary delimitation, border management, mechanism-building and trans-border cooperation.

Hu Shisheng, a Chinese strategic affairs scholar focused on South Asia, said ahead of the talks that the focus would be on institutionalising stability even as structural differences in the relationship had not disappeared.

India and China share a roughly 3,500-kilometre disputed border. The Special Representatives process remains the principal diplomatic track for addressing the unresolved boundary question while managing day-to-day issues along the Line of Actual Control.

The outcome of the 25th round will be watched for any concrete steps on confidence-building measures, further delineation of buffer zones, or progress toward an early harvest agreement that could ease conditions ahead of the September summit.