Ahead of Modi-Xi meet, Doval to visit China today for border talks
India's National Security Adviser travelled to Beijing to hold the 25th round of Special Representatives (SR) talks on the India-China boundary question with China's Foreign Minister.
The talks are intended to prepare the ground for a visit by China's President to India, expected around the BRICS Summit scheduled in New Delhi in September.
The visit follows the most recent Modi-Xi bilateral meeting held on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin, China, the previous year.
The SR mechanism remains the highest-level political channel for discussing a framework settlement of the boundary dispute, distinct from military-level Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) talks that manage on-ground de-escalation.
The Special Representatives (SR) Mechanism on the India-China boundary question
The SR mechanism is the highest political-level channel between India and China dedicated to resolving the boundary dispute "from the political perspective of the overall bilateral relationship," as opposed to technical or military-level engagement.
Key Details
- Originated from the Declaration on Principles for Relations and Comprehensive Cooperation, signed during PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee's visit to Beijing in June 2003.
- The first SR-level meeting was held in October 2003; the round now underway is the 25th.
- India's Special Representative is the National Security Adviser; China's counterpart is a State Councillor or Foreign Minister of equivalent rank.
- In 2005, the SR mechanism produced the Agreement on Political Parameters and Guiding Principles for the Settlement of the India-China Boundary Question — the closest the two sides have come to a shared negotiating framework.
- A subordinate Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on India-China border affairs was set up in 2012 during the 15th round of SR talks to handle operational-level coordination.
This visit constitutes the 25th round of this two-decade-old mechanism, underscoring that boundary settlement talks remain a distinct, slow-moving political track even as broader bilateral ties (trade, high-level visits) are being normalised separately.
India-China border management architecture and the Line of Actual Control (LAC)
Since India and China do not have a mutually demarcated boundary in most sectors, their border is managed through the LAC — a loosely defined line of military control — supplemented by a series of Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) and agreements rather than a formal treaty boundary.
Key Details
- The Shimla Agreement of 1972 (with Pakistan) is a separate instrument and does not apply to the India-China boundary; India-China border management instead rests on agreements such as the 1993 Agreement on the Maintenance of Peace and Tranquility along the LAC and the 1996 Agreement on CBMs in the Military Field.
- The LAC is generally understood in three sectors: Western (Ladakh), Middle (Himachal Pradesh/Uttarakhand), and Eastern (Sikkim/Arunachal Pradesh).
- The Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC), established 2012, and periodic Corps Commander-level talks handle immediate de-escalation issues (e.g., post-Galwan disengagement talks since 2020).
- The SR talks operate above these mechanisms, aiming at a political framework rather than tactical disengagement.
The 25th SR round sits atop this layered border-management architecture; its outcomes on political principles are expected to guide, though not replace, the ongoing military and diplomatic de-escalation processes along the LAC that followed the 2020 Galwan clash.
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and BRICS as venues for India-China leader engagement
Major multilateral summits such as the SCO and BRICS increasingly serve as the primary venues for India-China leader-level engagement, alongside or instead of dedicated bilateral state visits.
Key Details
- SCO: founded 2001 (Shanghai), headquartered in Beijing; India became a full member in 2017; members include China, Russia, Pakistan, and Central Asian states.
- BRICS: originally Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa; expanded from 2024 to include additional members (e.g., Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, UAE); India is hosting the upcoming BRICS Summit in New Delhi in September.
- The most recent Modi-Xi bilateral meeting took place on the sidelines of the SCO Summit in Tianjin, China.
The SR-level boundary talks are explicitly timed to precede a possible visit by China's President to India around the BRICS Summit, illustrating how bilateral boundary diplomacy is now sequenced around India's own hosting of major multilateral platforms.
- SR mechanism established: 2003, following PM Vajpayee's June 2003 Beijing visit; first SR meeting held October 2003.
- Current round of talks: 25th round of SR talks.
- 2005: Agreement on Political Parameters and Guiding Principles for the Settlement of the India-China Boundary Question signed via the SR mechanism.
- 2012: WMCC established during the 15th round of SR talks.
- SCO founded 2001; India became a full member in 2017.
- India is hosting the BRICS Summit in New Delhi in September 2026.