India's National Security Adviser Ajit Doval held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday on the India-China boundary question and ways to improve ties between the two countries.
The talks come ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's potential visit to New Delhi for the BRICS summit on September 12-13.
They also take place as differences over the border and Arunachal Pradesh continue to weigh on India-China relations.
Doval and Wang are the designated Special Representatives for boundary talks, a mechanism established in 2003 to address the dispute over the 3,488-km India-China border.
Doval, who arrived in China on Monday for a two-day visit, also met Chinese Vice President Han Zheng ahead of the talks.
The two leaders discussed ways to strengthen peace and tranquillity in the border areas and further improve bilateral ties across economic, political and multilateral fora, in accordance with the consensus reached between the leaders of the two countries, the Indian Embassy said in a post on X.
Relations between New Delhi and Beijing came under severe strain following the 2020 Galwan Valley clash and the prolonged military stand-off in eastern Ladakh. Both sides have since taken steps to stabilise ties.
Although the mechanism has not resolved the boundary dispute, officials on both sides regard it as a useful channel for addressing recurring tensions between the two countries.
Announcing the Special Representatives (SR) talks at a media briefing in Beijing on Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian skirted a direct response to a question about Xi's visit to India.
Xi's visit would 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.
Modi and Xi last met in August 2025 on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Tianjin.
On the SR talks, Lin said Doval and Wang will have an in-depth discussion on the boundary question as well as other bilateral, regional and international relations.
The talks between the SRs are the "main channel for negotiations between China and India on the boundary question, and also an important platform for communication between the two sides on issues of mutual interest", Lin said.
In August last year, China and India successfully held the 24th round of talks, during which the two sides had candid and in-depth exchanges of views on the boundary question and reached a number of common understandings, he said.
During this round of talks, the two sides will continue the in-depth communication on the boundary question in the spirit of the common understandings between leaders of the two countries to jointly keep the border areas peaceful and tranquil, he said.
The two sides will also exchange views on bilateral relations and international and regional issues, he added.
(With inputs from PTI)
