Doval in Beijing for the 25th Special Representatives round today; a possible Xi bilateral stays unofficial.

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval arrived in Beijing on Monday, 24 August 2026, ahead of the 25th round of India-China Special Representatives talks on the boundary question. On Tuesday, 25 August, Doval will meet Politburo member and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, his Special Representatives counterpart. He will also call on Chinese Vice-President Han Zheng, the Ministry of External Affairs said. Tuesday’s round is live on this paper. Arrival was Monday. The talks are today.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said the talks would see in-depth communication on the boundary question and an exchange of views on bilateral relations and international and regional issues. He recalled the 24th round in August 2025. A spokesperson’s preview is a diplomatic line. It is not a joint statement, and this desk will not invent one before the round closes.

The visit comes ahead of India’s BRICS Summit in New Delhi on 12 September 2026. Some public accounts also write 12–13 September. This desk records both writings of the summit window and will not collapse them. Public desks treat a possible visit by President Xi Jinping as expected or still without official confirmation. This page will not print a Xi bilateral as scheduled. An unofficial expectation is not a notified programme.

Earlier this month both sides reviewed the Line of Actual Control under the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination. They held detailed exchanges on boundary delimitation, border management, mechanism-building and trans-border cooperation. At the previous Special Representatives round, in August 2025, they agreed on an Expert Group under that Working Mechanism to explore Early Harvest in boundary delimitation. Those are last-month and last-year process lines. They are not Tuesday’s result.

One public account notes that this is the first Special Representatives meeting in one year; the previous round was in New Delhi in August last year. The Special Representatives mechanism was established in 2003. The Line of Actual Control span is cited as 3,488 kilometres on that account. 3,488 kilometres is a cited figure on one public desk. It is not a new Tuesday measurement.

Beijing is the geography. New Delhi is the September summit geography. Form B and any poll date are not notified on a diplomatic cutting. This desk will not invent an agreed map, a patrol protocol, a disengagement sector, or a scheduled Xi bilateral the tip does not lock.

Until Tuesday’s round issues a joint paper, the public ledger is a Monday arrival, a 25 August Special Representatives meeting with Wang Yi, a call on Han Zheng as stated by the Ministry of External Affairs, a Lin Jian preview of in-depth boundary talks, a BRICS summit in New Delhi written as 12 September and on some desks as 12–13 September, an Expert Group already agreed in August 2025, a Working Mechanism review earlier this month, a mechanism that dates to 2003, a 3,488-kilometre Line of Actual Control citation, and a possible Xi visit that remains unofficial. The 25th round is live today. No Xi bilateral is printed as scheduled.