India and China Hold 25th Round of Special Representatives Talks in Beijing

National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met in Beijing on Tuesday for the 25th round of India China Special Representatives talks. The two officials discussed boundary delimitation and the maintenance of peace and tranquility along the disputed border. Both sides reviewed the implementation of consensus reached by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping during summits in Kazan in October 2024 and Tianjin in August 2025.

The discussions focused on securing a fair, reasonable, and mutually acceptable settlement for the 3,500 kilometers of undemarcated Himalayan border. The two sides expressed satisfaction with the resumption of people to people exchanges, including the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, the easing of visa norms, and the reopening of traditional border trade points. India has agreed to host the 26th round of these talks in Delhi in 2027.

The meeting follows a period of severe tension that began with the June 2020 military confrontation in the Galwan Valley, which resulted in the deaths of 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese soldiers. While a patrolling arrangement announced in October 2024 led to military disengagement in eastern Ladakh, the process of normalization is ongoing. Doval noted that the relationship has been steadily returning to normalcy, linking this progress to the maintenance of peace along the border.

Reporting on the diplomatic framing of the event differed by political lean. A center leaning source highlighted a strategic divide in the talks, noting that India focused on the boundary process as a prerequisite for stable ties while China emphasized placing the boundary issue in its proper place to avoid impeding wider cooperation. A left leaning source focused more on the specific diplomatic mechanics, noting that neither side specified which parts of the Line of Actual Control were being considered for the delimitation process.