Doval-Wang talks in Beijing ahead of possible Xi Jinping's India visit

NSA Ajit Doval is holding the 25th round of Special Representatives talks with Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing to address the India-China boundary dispute.

The talks are significant as they precede Chinese President Xi Jinping's expected attendance at the BRICS summit in New Delhi, potentially paving the way for a Modi-Xi meeting.

Both India and China acknowledge that peace and tranquillity along the 3,488 km border are essential prerequisites for maintaining good bilateral relations.

Discussions occur amidst recent reports of aggressive Chinese military activity in Arunachal Pradesh, which India asserts is an "inalienable and integral" part of its territory.

The Special Representatives mechanism, established in 2003, serves as a vital tool for managing tensions despite not fully resolving the complex boundary issue.

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

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

Both Doval and 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.

Significance Of The Special Representatives Mechanism

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 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.

Anticipation Ahead Of BRICS Summit

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 reiterated that peace and tranquillity along the border areas are prerequisite for good relations with China.

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

India's Stance On Border Peace And Tranquillity

"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," Jaishankar said at the Economic Times World Leaders Forum in New Delhi on Saturday.

"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.

On the reports of stepped-up Chinese military activity near the Arunachal Pradesh border, China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said on August 12 that the China-India border situation is "generally stable at the moment".

China and India held the 36th meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on China-India Border Affairs, Guo said.

"The two sides agreed to maintain communication via diplomatic and military channels and jointly uphold peace and tranquility in the border areas", he said.

Arunachal Pradesh: A Point Of Contention 

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on August 11 said that India considers matters relating to border areas with China as "most serious" and asserted that maintaining peace and tranquillity along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) is of "utmost importance", as the state of the frontier will govern the overall trajectory of bilateral ties.

Earlier, New Delhi also trashed Beijing's criticism of its decision to formally identify 27 places and geographical features in Arunachal Pradesh by their standard names, emphasising that the state is an "inalienable and integral" part of India and nothing can change this "indisputable reality".

China, which claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of South Tibet, has been releasing its set of names for the region since 2017. India termed the Chinese move as "vain and preposterous", asserting that such actions will not alter the "undeniable" reality that the state "was, is, and will" always remain an integral part of India.