Ajit Doval, Wang Yi hold border talks ahead of Xi Jinping's India visit

Ajit Doval and Wang Yi held Special Representatives talks in Beijing on the boundary dispute and bilateral ties. The meeting gains weight as India and China seek stability before the BRICS summit and a possible Modi-Xi interaction.National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Tuesday held Special Representatives talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the boundary question and on improving ties between India and China. The meeting assumes significance as it comes ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's much-anticipated visit to New Delhi for the BRICS summit on September 12-13.The talks are also taking place at a time when differences over the border and Arunachal Pradesh continue to remain prominent in bilateral ties. Doval and Wang are the designated Special Representatives under the boundary talks mechanism set up in 2003 to comprehensively address the 3,488-km India-China border dispute.Before the talks, Doval, who arrived in Beijing on a two-day visit on Monday, called on Chinese Vice President Han Zhang. The two sides discussed ways to strengthen peace and tranquillity in the border areas and further improve bilateral ties across economic, political and multilateral fora, in line with the consensus reached between the leaders of the two countries, the Indian Embassy said in a post on X.Ties between New Delhi and Beijing 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 relations. While the boundary dispute remains unresolved, officials on both sides regard the structured mechanism as a useful tool to deal with recurring tensions between the two countries on various fronts. Announcing the Special Representatives talks at a media briefing on Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian did not directly answer a question on Xi's visit to India. Xi's visit is expected to provide an opportunity for a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the summit to discuss steps to take bilateral ties forward. Modi and Xi last met in August 2025 on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Tianjin.On the talks, Lin said Doval and Wang would hold an in-depth discussion on the boundary question as well as bilateral, regional and international relations. He said the 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 between the two sides on issues of mutual interest". Lin said China and India had successfully held the 24th round of talks in August last year, during which the two sides had candid and in-depth exchanges on the boundary question and reached a number of common understandings. He said that in this round of talks, both sides would continue in-depth communication on the boundary question in the spirit of the common understandings between the leaders of the two countries to jointly keep the border areas peaceful and tranquil, and would also exchange views on bilateral relations as well as regional and international issues.In sum, the Doval-Wang talks focused on the boundary dispute and broader ties at a sensitive moment in India-China relations, with the meeting also drawing attention because it comes just ahead of the BRICS summit in New Delhi.With PTI Inputs- EndsPublished By: India Today Web Desk Published On: Aug 25, 2026 14:22 IST