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

National Security Adviser Ajit Doval is expected to visit China on Monday for the 25th round of Special Representatives’ talks on the India-China boundary dispute, as New Delhi and Beijing seek to further normalise bilateral ties, people familiar with the matter said on Sunday.

Doval is expected to meet Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, his counterpart under the Special Representatives mechanism, on Tuesday. The mechanism was established in 2003 to work towards a framework for resolving the 3,488-km India-China boundary dispute.

Doval’s visit comes ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s expected trip to India next month for the BRICS Summit in New Delhi. While neither side has officially announced the visit, Xi is expected to attend the September 12-13 summit, according to people familiar with the matter.

If confirmed, it would be Xi’s first visit to India in seven years. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Xi last met in August 2025 on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in China.

The Special Representatives’ talks come amid a recent standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in the Arunachal Pradesh sector of the Line of Actual Control (LAC). External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Saturday that the state of the border would determine the broader trajectory of India-China relations.

India and China went through a major downturn in ties following the 2020 military confrontation in eastern Ladakh, which continued for more than four years. The two sides reached an understanding in October 2024 to end the face-off, after which Modi and Xi met in Russia and agreed to work towards normalising relations and addressing the boundary dispute.

Since then, the two countries have taken several steps, including the resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra and direct flights and easing of visa restrictions for Chinese nationals. However, there has been little progress on de-escalation along the LAC.

At the previous round of Special Representatives’ talks in New Delhi, the two sides stressed the importance of maintaining peace and tranquillity along the border to facilitate broader ties.

They also agreed to explore an “early harvest” in boundary delimitation through an expert group under the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs. Another working group was proposed to strengthen border management.

The two sides further agreed to establish general-level mechanisms in the eastern and middle sectors of the border, in addition to the existing mechanism in the western sector.

The latest meeting of the WMCC, held in New Delhi on August 6, included discussions on boundary delimitation, border management, institutional mechanisms and trans-border cooperation, according to an Indian readout.