Making Sense of India-China Border Talks in Beijing

On Tuesday (August 25), National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and China’s Foreign Minister (and Politburo member) Wang Yi chaired the 25th round of talks between the Special Representatives (SRs) on the boundary question, in Beijing.

Here is a full guide to what each side said and what the takeaways are. Doval also met Vice President Han Zheng, but the meat of the visit was the talks with Wang Yi.

UPDATE: A day after the talks, India and China released an Eight Point Consensus on the boundary question. I’ve written about it here.

The big picture: Stability and not settlement, even if that’s technically the actual mandate of the SRs. As Doval and Wang said, in different ways, the immediate task for both sides is to continue what they’ve been doing to maintain peace and tranquility, and to explore further ways to ensure that task remains manageable, given that it’s the prerequisite for what both call a ‘steadily normalising’ relationship; and secondly, to ensure the conditions are right for next month’s expected visit to India by President Xi, which, though for the BRICS Summit, will be significant as the first in seven years.

The talks happened at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, which is always a treat to visit:

Wang and Doval first met in a smaller group for between one-and-a-half to two hours. After that, they headed over to a larger room for formal delegation level talks. Journalists weren’t allowed into the small group session, but were permitted to listen to their opening remarks before the start of the second session. The theatre of opening welcoming remarks is quite funny given both had already spent quite a bit of time in each other’s company, but it’s a bit of kabuki for the media. Still, it’s also important as it shows what each side wants to highlight publically.

Opening Remarks from Wang Yi

Welcome to China to chair with me the 25th round of talks between the Special Representatives. China and India are each other’s important neighbours. They are both major developing countries and important emerging economies. A sound and steadily growing China-India relationship serves the fundamental interests of our two peoples, meets the common expectations of the Global South countries, and also meets the trend of the times.

The China India relationship has gone beyond the bilateral scope and taken on global and strategic significance. It is important for us to step up communication, to enhance mutual trust, to remove disturbances and overcome obstacles. We need to be good friends that enjoy good neighbourliness and be good partners that contribute to each other’s success.

In recent years, President Xi and Prime Minister Modi have held two important meetings in Kazan and Tianjin. Our leaders reached important common understandings and charted the direction for the improvement and growth of our bilateral relationship. Under the guidance of our leaders, you and I have had two SR talks, the institutional mechanisms between our two counties have been resuming and we have been working hard to maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas.

The two sides have stayed in regular communication through diplomatic and military channels on boundary affairs. In our SR meeting last year, the 24th one, you and I reached a set of common understandings on delimitation, on border management, mechanism-building and cross-border cooperation. Over the past year, our two sides have worked to deliver them on the ground and have made good progress. With this meeting, I look forward to continue to have in-depth exchange of views with you on issues of shared interest to better understand each other and to properly handle the boundary question, to not only maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas but also inject new impetus for the bilateral relationship. For our small group meeting just now, we had very in depth and candid discussions. For our big group meeting, I am sure we will have new consensus.

Opening Remarks from Doval

Thank you very much for the great hospitality and all the arrangements. I am very happy we are here for the 25th round of talks, which are very important particularly in the wake of the BRICS summit to happen shortly.

We meet in keeping with the guidance of our leaders Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping who have given clear and positive direction to our relationship both at Kazan and Tianjin. I am happy over the past year our relationship has been steadily returning to normalcy. The normalcy we have witnessed in our relationship has been a direct result of both sides maintaining peace and tranquility in the border areas. We have extensively talked about it today just to see how effectively to reinforce and further consolidate our efforts to maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas.

The successful conduct of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra through Nathu La and Lipulekh, and the resumption of our traditional border trade through three passes has brought tangible benefits for our people particularly people living in the border areas.

(Media ushered out while Doval continued to speak).

On Tuesday evening, the Indian Embassy in Beijing put out this statement:

NSA Shri Ajit Doval co-chaired the 25th Meeting of SRs on India-China Boundary Question with his counterpart H. E. Wang Yi, Member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPC and China’s Foreign Minister on 25 August 2026 in Beijing. The two sides positively reviewed the ongoing momentum in bilateral relations which is in line with the directions and vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping. They discussed ways to further expand bilateral cooperation, maintain stability and ensure peace and tranquility in the border areas, and make progress on boundary delimitation, while sustaining the ongoing work on transboundary cooperation.

Later, the Ministry of External Affairs put out a slightly lengthier statement in New Delhi, but without some of those details such as the two sides discussing ways to maintain peace and make progress on boundary delimitation (which I thought was a bit odd).

1. At the invitation of Mr. Wang Yi, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, National Security Advisor and Special Representative of India on India-China Boundary Question, Shri Ajit Doval visited Beijing between 24-25 August 2026.
2. During the visit, the two Special Representatives co-chaired the 25th round of the Special Representatives’ Talks on the India-China Boundary Question.
3. The two sides noted the progress made in implementing the important consensus reached between their leaders in Kazan in October 2024 and Tianjin in August 2025. Both sides expressed satisfaction at the steady resumption of people-to-people and cross-border exchanges, including the ongoing Kailash Manasarovar Yatra and Border Trade through the three designated border trading passes.
4. Under the strategic guidance of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping, and in a constructive and forward-looking spirit, the two Special Representatives had a candid and in-depth exchange of views on the India-China Boundary Question, and agreed to continue their work in seeking a political settlement of the boundary question in the context of their overall and long-term interests.
5. The Indian side highlighted the importance of maintaining peace and tranquility in the India-China border areas for the continued development and progress of the bilateral relationship.
6. The two sides also discussed bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interest.
7. NSA Shri Ajit Doval also called on Chinese Vice-President Han Zheng during the visit.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs put out a more detailed readout, which repeated most of Wang’s opening remarks, but added an interesting paragraph at the very end (translated):

Wang Yi stated that China and India are important neighbours to each other, as well as major developing countries and representatives of emerging economies. A sound and stable China‑India relationship serves the fundamental interests of the two peoples, meets the shared aspirations of Global South countries, and conforms to the trend of our times. Going far beyond a bilateral dimension, China‑India ties carry global and strategic significance. China stands ready to work with India to guide bilateral relations from a strategic and long‑term perspective, enhance communication, deepen mutual understanding, resolve differences, overcome obstacles, become good‑neighbourly friends and mutually‑beneficial partners, and achieve the “Dragon‑Elephant Dance”.

Wang Yi noted that both sides are implementing the outcomes of the Special Representatives’ meetings in an orderly fashion. Institutionalised exchanges and cooperation between the two nations have gradually resumed, with both sides committed to safeguarding peace and tranquillity in the border areas. Drawing on historical experience, the two countries should place the boundary question in its proper position within bilateral relations, keep moving forward without stagnation, backsliding or deviation. They should gradually build a positive narrative on China‑India border‑related affairs, make dialogue, peace, consultation and cooperation the mainstream, and inject positive momentum into the healthy and steady growth of bilateral ties.

Doval said India and China, two ancient civilisations and large‑population major economies, are partners, not competitors. A stable, predictable and forward‑looking India‑China relationship is in the common interests of both peoples and carries great importance for Asia and the wider world. Guided by the leaders of the two countries, India‑China relations are getting back on track, the border areas remain generally peaceful, and exchanges and cooperation across all sectors are advancing steadily. India is willing to strengthen strategic communication with China, expand mutually‑beneficial cooperation, deepen multilateral coordination, manage border‑related issues effectively, explore solutions to the boundary question and accelerate the improvement of India‑China relations.

The two sides held in‑depth discussions on advancing delimitation negotiations, strengthening border management and control, improving mechanism‑building and promoting cross‑border cooperation. They reaffirmed their commitment to the 2005 Political Guiding Principles, and, in a spirit of mutual respect and mutual understanding, will leverage the Special Representatives’ mechanism to pursue a fair, reasonable and mutually‑acceptable package solution to the boundary question. Both countries will continue to settle border‑related issues through dialogue and consultation, and jointly uphold peace and tranquillity along the border. The two sides agreed that the 26th Meeting of the Special Representatives on the China‑India Boundary Question will be held in India in 2027. The two sides also exchanged views on international and regional issues of common concern.

Five brief points from me: What do we make of these references to border delimitation, in the absence of any concrete information? Are these throwaway remarks or something else? There are more unknowns than knowns, but I offer my penny’s worth:

1. It’s interesting that Wang Yi made a specific mention of this in his remarks to the press, saying, as mentioned above: “In our SR meeting last year, the 24th one, you and I reached a set of common understandings on delimitation, on border management, mechanism-building and cross-border cooperation. Over the past year, our two sides have worked to deliver them on the ground and have made good progress.” Doval made no mention of this.

2. Neither side mentioned the phrase ‘early harvest’ that figured in the statement after the previous round, where they both agreed on setting up an Expert Group under the WMCC “to explore Early Harvest in boundary delimitation in the India-China border areas”. That being said, the statements also did not mention, as they did last year, any reference to the creation of General Level Mechanisms in Eastern and Middle Sectors. Whether seeking an early harvest is off the agenda or whether both see no value (or even some risk) in publicly referring to it again is unclear, although it would be odd for both to refer to making progress on talks on border delimitation if those talks weren’t happening at all. How much progress they’ve made is another question.

3. We don’t know if the Expert Group under the WMCC has met (note - it’s separate from the SRs track), although Wang referred to ‘good progress’ having been made (leaving unclear which part of his statement he was referring to - delimitation or management of the boundary or mechanism-building, or all of the above).

4. The Chinese Foreign Ministry statement referred to both sides “pursuing a fair, reasonable and mutually‑acceptable package solution to the boundary question”. Seeking a “package solution”, as opposed to piecemeal settlements, was what was previously agreed to. It’s not immediately clear to me if both sides see a package solution and delimitation agreements as being contradictory. The border has never been demarcated. But the entire border is not disputed. They could delimit areas while leaving the major disputes for a package solution. What that would serve I’m not entirely sure. Can a case be made for there being a psychological benefit to it and the signal that sends publically? Or, on the other hand, are both leaders interested in showing there’s progress, ie, the optics, even if when it comes to the actual disputes, there is none (and indeed, if they are getting more acute)?

5. Finally, the fact that I’m leaving these questions unanswered goes to show that India and China are singing from the same hymn sheet in their view that revealing less is better, which is why we have close to no insight into what’s actually transpired on the ground in the one year between the 24th round and the 25th round. Both sides speak of progress - and the borders clearly appear to be stable for the most part — yet we don’t know what that progress in managing the borders actually is.

Given the recent history - and both of their understandable wishes to keep a lid on increasingly inflamed public opinion on both sides where any agreement is seen, unfortunately and in my view unreasonably, as a concession - one can even see where they’re coming from. Yet, in the long term, if they are serious about making meaningful progress on the boundary question, whether in coming up with more robust mechanisms in managing it, or even in beginning to try and resolve it as unlikely as that may seem, at some point India and China are going to have to start communicating a lot more with their publics.

Thank you for reading.