Ajit Doval, Wang Yi look to ‘make progress on boundary delimitation’

A long part of Han’s career was spent in Shanghai, under Xi Jinping, and he was CPC secretary of Shanghai during 2012-2017. He is considered a member of the powerful Shanghai Clique.

Doval’s meeting with Han and Wang also set the stage for Xi’s likely visit to India for the summit of the BRICS leaders on September 12-13.

After the Doval-Han meeting, China’s Ambassador to India, Xu Feihong, said, “Han Zheng stated that over the past two years, President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Modi have met twice – in Kazan and Tianjin – and reached a series of important consensuses on the development of China-India relations, guiding the bilateral relationship back onto a track of recovery and improvement.”

“As neighbouring major developing nations and key emerging economies, China and India should view and handle their relationship from a strategic and long-term perspective; jointly implement the important consensuses reached by their leaders; enhance strategic mutual trust; tap into cooperation potential; strengthen multilateral coordination; properly manage differences; and promote the sustained and stable development of China-India relations,” he said.

The Indian embassy in Beijing said, “NSA and VP Han discussed ways to strengthen peace and tranquillity in the border areas and further improve bilateral relations across economic, political and multilateral fora, in accordance with the consensus reached between the leaders of the two countries”.

Ahead of their talks, Doval told Wang: “I am happy that over the past year our relationship has been steadily returning to normalcy. The normalcy in our relationship has been a direct result of both sides maintaining peace and tranquillity in the border areas.”

After the Doval-Wang meeting, the Indian embassy said, “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. They discussed ways to further expand bilateral cooperation, maintain stability and ensure peace and tranquility in the border areas, and make progress on boundary delimitation, while sustaining the ongoing work on transboundary cooperation.”

The Ministry of External Affairs, in a statement, said, “Under the strategic guidance of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping, and in a constructive and forward-looking spirit, the two Special Representatives had a candid and in-depth exchange of views on the India-China boundary question, and agreed to continue their work in seeking a political settlement of the boundary question in the context of their overall and long-term interests.”

It said the “Indian side highlighted the importance of maintaining peace and tranquility in the India-China border areas for the continued development and progress of the bilateral relationship”.

“The two sides noted the progress made in implementing the important consensus reached between their leaders in Kazan in October 2024 and Tianjin in August 2025. Both sides expressed satisfaction at the steady resumption of people-to-people and cross-border exchanges, including the ongoing Kailash Manasarovar Yatra and border trade through the three designated border trading passes,” the MEA said, adding that the two sides also discussed bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interest.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry, in a readout in Mandarin, said the two sides engaged in “in-depth discussions” on “advancing border demarcation negotiations, strengthening border control, improving mechanisms, and promoting cross-border cooperation”.

“They reaffirmed their commitment to adhering to the political guiding principles reached in 2005, and to working in a spirit of mutual respect and understanding to leverage the Special Representatives’ meeting mechanism to seek a fair, reasonable, and mutually acceptable comprehensive solution to the border issue. Both sides will continue to properly handle the border issue through dialogue and consultation, and jointly maintain peace and tranquillity along the border,” it said.

It quoted Wang saying that China and India are important neighbours and representatives of major developing countries and emerging economies. “The healthy and stable development of China-India relations is in the fundamental interests of both peoples, meets the common aspirations of countries in the Global South, and aligns with the trend of the times. China-India relations have transcended the bilateral scope and possess global and strategic significance.”

In June, Wang visited India for the meeting of the BRICS NSAs. Meeting Doval on the sidelines, Wang underlined it was “imperative” for India and China to respect each other’s “core interests” and take concrete actions to implement the “important consensus” reached by both sides.