NSA Ajit Doval, Wang Yi hold 25th India-China border talks as ties gather momentum

New Delhi: 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 Tuesday, as the two neighbours sought to build on the recent improvement in bilateral ties. Doval and Wang, the designated Special Representatives of India and China respectively, discussed the long-running boundary issue under a mechanism that remains the main channel for negotiations between the two countries on their disputed border. The meeting came just months after Doval and Wang met in New Delhi in June on the sidelines of the BRICS National Security Advisers' meeting. Before the boundary talks, Doval called on Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, with the two sides discussing ways to strengthen peace and tranquillity in the border areas and further improve bilateral relations. "On 25 August, NSA and Special Representative on the India-China Boundary Question, Shri Ajit Doval called on H.E. Han Zheng, Vice President of the People's Republic of China," the Indian Embassy in Beijing said. The embassy said the discussions also covered expanding relations across economic, political and multilateral forums in line with understandings reached by the leaders of the two countries. According to China's foreign ministry, Han told Doval that Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had met twice over the past two years -- in Kazan and Tianjin -- and reached a series of understandings that helped put bilateral relations back on a path of "recovery and improvement". Han said India and China, as neighbouring major developing countries and important emerging economies, should approach their ties from a strategic and long-term perspective, strengthen mutual trust, expand cooperation and properly manage their differences. Doval, according to the Chinese readout, said India was willing to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation with China, appropriately handle the boundary question and push the relationship forward. The latest talks come amid a gradual thaw in ties after years of tensions triggered by the military standoff along the Line of Actual Control. The 24th round of Special Representatives' talks was held in New Delhi in August 2025, when the two sides reached a series of understandings on border management and agreed to continue efforts to maintain peace and tranquillity. Doval arrived in Beijing on Monday for a two-day visit at Wang's invitation. The latest engagement is also significant as New Delhi and Beijing attempt to ensure that differences along the boundary do not derail the broader recovery in ties, with both sides increasingly stressing that stable border conditions are essential for normal bilateral relations.