Ajit Doval meets China's Vice President in Beijing on border peace

Ajit Doval met China's Vice President and is holding boundary talks with Wang Yi in Beijing. The engagement signals a push to keep the border calm and stabilise ties before the BRICS summit.Stock photo used for illustrationNational Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Tuesday met Chinese Vice President Han Zhang in Beijing and discussed ways to strengthen peace and tranquillity in the border areas, while also looking at steps to further improve bilateral ties. Doval is in China on a two-day visit for the Special Representatives talks on the India-China boundary question with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.The talks are significant as they come ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's expected visit to New Delhi for the BRICS summit on September 12-13. They are also taking place at a time when differences over the border and Arunachal Pradesh continue to feature prominently in ties between New Delhi and Beijing.According to the Indian Embassy, the meeting between Doval and Han Zhang focused on ways to strengthen peace and tranquillity in the border areas and improve bilateral relations across economic, political and multilateral fora, in line with the consensus reached between the leaders of the two countries. The Special Representatives talks between Doval and Wang Yi were scheduled for later in the day.India-China relations came under severe strain after the 2020 Galwan Valley clash and the prolonged military stand-off in eastern Ladakh, though both sides have since taken steps to stabilise ties. Doval and Wang are the designated Special Representatives for the boundary talks mechanism, which was set up in 2003 to address the India-China border dispute spanning 3,488 km. Although the mechanism has not resolved the boundary dispute, officials on both sides regard it as a useful structured tool to deal with recurring tensions between the two countries. Announcing the talks on Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said Doval and Wang would hold an in-depth discussion on the boundary question as well as bilateral, regional and international relations.Lin said talks between the Special Representatives are the "main channel" for negotiations between China and India on the boundary question and also an "important platform for communication" on issues of mutual interest. Referring to the 24th round of talks held in August last year, he said the two sides had "candid and in-depth exchanges of views" on the boundary question and had reached "a number of common understandings". He said that in the current round, both sides would continue in-depth communication on the boundary question in the spirit of the common understandings reached by the leaders of the two countries, with the aim of jointly keeping the border areas peaceful and tranquil. He added that the two sides would also exchange views on bilateral relations and international and regional issues.Lin, however, avoided a direct response to a question on Xi's visit to India. Xi's visit would provide an opportunity for a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the summit. Modi and Xi last met in August 2025 on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Tianjin. Overall, Doval's visit centres on the boundary talks, efforts to maintain calm along the border and wider engagement between India and China.With PTI Inputs- EndsPublished By: India Today Web Desk Published On: Aug 25, 2026 11:02 IST