Eyes on Xi visit, ‘early harvest’ as Doval heads to Beijing

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NSA Ajit Doval speaks on Rashtriya Ekta Diwas at a lecture, in New Delhi. File | Photo Credit: ANI

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval is scheduled to arrive in Beijing on Monday (August 24, 2026) to take part in the India-China Special Representatives (SR) talks on the boundary issue with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.

Mr. Doval and Mr. Wang are scheduled to hold the 25th round of SR talks on Tuesday (August 25), according to official sources.

Both Mr. Doval and Mr. Wang are the designated SRs for the boundary talks mechanism, which was established in 2003 to comprehensively address the vexed boundary dispute of the India-China border spanning 3,488 km.

While success eluded it in resolving the boundary dispute, officials on both sides regard the structured mechanism as a useful tool in addressing the recurring tensions between the two countries on various fronts.

The upcoming talks assume significance as they are being held ahead of the much-anticipated visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to India to attend the BRICS summit in New Delhi on September 12, 13.

While there is no official confirmation about Mr. Xi’s visit, officials on both sides are optimistic about the Chinese leader’s participation, which could provide an opportunity for a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the summit to discuss initiatives to take forward bilateral ties.

The two leaders met in August last year on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Tianjin.

Ahead of Doval-Wang talks in Beijing, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Saturday (August 22, 2026) reiterated that peace and tranquillity along the border areas are prerequisite for good relations with China.

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His comments came amid reports of aggressive posturing by Chinese troops in Arunachal Pradesh's Upper Subansiri region in recent weeks.

"I think we went through a particularly bad patch between the summer of 2020 and the autumn of 2024, and that was primarily an outcome of the situation in the border areas," Mr. Jaishankar said at the Economic Times World Leaders Forum in New Delhi on Saturday (August 22).

"At the end of the day, peace and tranquillity in the border areas is a prerequisite for good relations, and the state of the border, to a very large measure, naturally would determine the state of the relations," he said.