India, China discuss LAC peace and boundary progress before BRICS summit

Beijing,UPDATED: Aug 25, 2026 21:56 IST

India and China on Tuesday discussed ways to maintain peace and stability along the Line of Actual Control and move towards progress on boundary delimitation, while continuing work on trans-boundary cooperation during extensive talks between Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

The talks were held under the Special Representatives dialogue framework, weeks before Chinese President Xi Jinping's expected visit to India for the BRICS summit. Both sides reviewed the current momentum in ties and discussed expanding cooperation while keeping peace and tranquillity in the border areas.

In his opening remarks, Doval said normalcy in India-China ties had been a direct result of both sides maintaining peace and tranquillity in the border areas. According to the Indian embassy 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." It said the two sides "discussed ways to further expand bilateral cooperation, maintain stability and ensure peace and tranquillity in the border areas, and make progress on boundary delimitation, while sustaining the ongoing work on transboundary cooperation".

The Special Representatives dialogue took place amid reports of aggressive military posturing by Chinese troops along the LAC in the Upper Subansiri region of Arunachal Pradesh. Doval arrived in Beijing on Monday on a two-day visit, seen as part of efforts by the two neighbours to rebuild ties after the relationship came under severe strain following the Galwan Valley clashes in 2020.

"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," Doval said. "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," he said, referring to their meetings on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Russia in 2024 and the SCO summit in China last year.

Referring to progress in normalising ties after the eastern Ladakh military standoff, Doval said the bilateral relationship had been steadily returning to normalcy. "The normalcy we have witnessed in our relationship has been a direct result of both sides maintaining peace and tranquillity in the border areas," he said. "We have extensively talked about it today just to see how to effectively reinforce and further consolidate our efforts to maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas," he added. Doval also referred to improvements in people-to-people ties, saying, "The successful conduct of Kailash Manasarovar Yatra via Nathu La and resumption of our traditional border trade via all the three passes brought tangible benefits for our people, particularly people living in the border areas."

In his remarks, Wang said the China-India relationship had 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," he said. He also said China and India should draw lessons from history, place the boundary question appropriately in bilateral relations, and keep moving forward "without stagnating, backtracking or veering off course".

According to a statement issued by the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Wang called for gradually building "a positive narrative on China-India boundary affairs", making dialogue, peace, consultation and cooperation the mainstream and injecting positive factors into the sound and stable development of bilateral relations. "I look forward to continuing 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 tranquillity in the border area but also inject new impetus for the bilateral relationship," he said. Wang also said the two sides had stayed in regular communication through diplomatic and military channels on boundary affairs while implementing the guidance of Modi and Xi. Describing his talks with Doval as "very in-depth and candid", he expressed hope of reaching a new consensus.

The Chinese statement said the two sides held in-depth discussions on advancing border delimitation negotiations, strengthening border management and control, improving mechanism-building and promoting cross-border cooperation. Doval and Wang are the designated Special Representatives for the boundary talks mechanism, set up in 2003 to address the India-China boundary dispute spanning 3,488 km. Though the mechanism has not resolved the dispute, officials on both sides see it as a useful tool in dealing with recurring tensions.

Ahead of the talks, Doval met Chinese Vice President Han Zheng. The Indian embassy said they 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 by the leaders of the two countries. Han said China and India should view and handle bilateral relations from a strategic and long-term perspective, enhance strategic mutual trust, tap the potential for cooperation, maintain close multilateral coordination, properly manage differences, and promote the sustained and stable development of ties. The latest round followed the 24th round of talks held in August last year, when the two sides had candid and in-depth exchanges on the boundary question and reached a number of common understandings.

With PTI Inputs

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