National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Tuesday met Chinese Vice President Han Zheng in Beijing, with the two sides discussing ways to maintain peace and tranquillity along the India-China border and further improve bilateral relations. Doval, who is on a two-day visit to China, is also India’s Special Representative on the India-China Boundary Question. His meeting with Han came ahead of the 25th round of Special Representative talks on the boundary issue, scheduled later on Tuesday with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
The Embassy of India in China said in a post on X, “On 25 August, NSA and Special Representative on the India-China Boundary Question, Ajit Doval called on Han Zheng, Vice President of the People’s Republic of China.”
According to the embassy, Doval and Han discussed measures to strengthen peace and tranquillity in the border areas. They also exchanged views on further improving bilateral relations in economic, political and multilateral forums, in line with the understanding reached between the leaders of the two countries.
Doval’s meeting with Wang is expected to build on their previous discussions in June, when the two officials met in New Delhi on the sidelines of the BRICS National Security Advisers’ meeting.
The Ministry of External Affairs had described those discussions as “constructive and forward-looking”. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at the time that the two sides had reviewed developments in bilateral ties and noted progress towards gradual normalisation.
“NSA underlined that stable, predictable and constructive bilateral relations contribute to building trust and better understanding between the two sides. The discussions were constructive and forward-looking,” Jaiswal had said.
Doval’s visit comes amid efforts by New Delhi and Beijing to improve ties following a series of high-level engagements between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The two leaders have held talks on the sidelines of key international summits, including the SCO Summit in Tianjin last year. They had welcomed the positive momentum in bilateral ties following their meeting in Kazan in October 2024 and stressed the need to prevent differences between the two countries from turning into disputes.
The MEAs, after their meeting, said the two countries were “development partners and not rivals”, while underlining the importance of managing differences through dialogue.
“A stable relationship and cooperation between India and China and their 2.8 billion people based on mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual sensitivity are necessary for the growth and development of the two countries, as well as for a multipolar world and a multi-polar Asia befitting the trends of the 21st century,” the ministry had said.
The latest talks between Doval and Chinese officials are therefore being closely watched as New Delhi and Beijing seek to consolidate the recent improvement in relations while continuing to address outstanding issues along the disputed border.
