Ajit Doval to visit China for boundary talks ahead of Xi’s expected India trip

National Security Adviser Ajit Doval is expected to travel to Beijing on Monday for a fresh round of India-China boundary negotiations, with the talks assuming added significance ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s anticipated visit to India next month. Doval, India’s Special Representative for the boundary negotiations, is scheduled to meet Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday. The meeting will mark the 25th round of talks under the Special Representatives mechanism, people familiar with the matter said. The discussions come as New Delhi and Beijing attempt to consolidate a gradual improvement in relations after years of tensions triggered by the military confrontation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.

Xi visit in focus

Xi is expected to travel to New Delhi for the BRICS Summit scheduled for September 12-13, although India and China have yet to formally announce his participation.

If the visit materialises, it will be Xi’s first trip to India in seven years and could provide an opportunity for another meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Modi and Xi last met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit in China in August 2025.

Doval and Wang are expected to use Tuesday’s talks not only to discuss the unresolved boundary question but also to review the broader state of bilateral relations and measures being pursued to rebuild confidence between the neighbours.

The Special Representatives mechanism was established in 2003 to seek a political framework for resolving the dispute along the approximately 3,488-km India-China boundary.

While successive rounds have failed to produce a final settlement, the mechanism has remained one of the most important high-level channels available to the two governments for discussing the politically sensitive boundary question.

Border remains key

The talks will take place against the backdrop of continued efforts to maintain stability along the LAC following the prolonged military standoff that began in 2020.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday reiterated that peace and tranquillity along the border remained essential for sustained improvement in India-China relations. He said the state of the border would, to a large extent, determine the state of the overall relationship.

The two countries have maintained diplomatic and military channels for addressing differences along the frontier. China said earlier this month that the border situation was “generally stable”, while both sides agreed during the latest Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination meeting to maintain communication and jointly preserve peace in border areas.

New Delhi, however, continues to insist that normal bilateral relations require peace along the frontier.

Ties gradually reopen

The Doval-Wang meeting forms part of a broader attempt to restore engagement between Asia’s two largest countries after relations deteriorated sharply following the 2020 Ladakh confrontation.

Recent contacts have extended beyond the boundary question to connectivity and people-to-people exchanges, while senior officials have held a series of meetings aimed at making the relationship more stable and predictable.

Doval and Wang themselves met in New Delhi in June during the BRICS National Security Advisers’ meeting, when India said bilateral ties were moving towards normalisation.

Tuesday’s meeting will provide another test of that process. Progress on the boundary question remains difficult, but keeping the LAC stable and strengthening communication could create a more favourable diplomatic environment ahead of the BRICS Summit.

With Xi’s expected visit potentially bringing the Chinese leader face-to-face with Modi in New Delhi, Doval’s Beijing discussions could help prepare the ground for the next stage of the cautious India-China reset.