National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Tuesday said that India-China relations have improved in the last nine months as peace prevails along the border. He held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on reducing tensions along the border and related issues.
Doval and Wang held the 24th round of talks under the framework of the Special Representative Mechanism, a day after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met his Chinese counterpart. The Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement that the Indian side strongly raised the issue of terrorism in all its forms, including cross-border terrorism, and recalled that one of the core objectives of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is to combat the evil of terrorism.
Need for transparency in dam construction
Less than a fortnight is left for the annual SCO summit to be held in China. The statement said that Jaishankar also underlined India’s concerns regarding the construction of a massive dam by China in the lower reaches of the Yarlung Tsangpo (Brahmaputra River), as it would have an impact on the lower riparian states.
The Ministry of External Affairs said that it said that the need for utmost transparency in this regard was strongly underlined. Issues related to ‘reduction of tensions, delimitation and border affairs’ were discussed in the Special Representative (SR) talks. Wang arrived in Delhi on Monday (August 18, 2025) on a two-day visit.
Peace and harmony on the borders
He further said that his visit is being seen as part of efforts being made by both the neighbors to improve their relations again. Relations between the two countries had become very bitter after the fierce conflict in the Galwan Valley in the year 2020.
In his televised opening address, the National Security Advisor recalled his visit to Beijing last December for the last round of Special Representative talks and said that since then there has been a “trend of progress” in relations between the two sides. He said, “The borders are calm, peace and harmony prevails, our bilateral relations have become more solid.
PM Modi to visit China
Doval has also formally announced that PM Modi will visit China to attend the SCO summit to be held in Tianjin on August 31 and September 01. He said that in view of this visit, the talks of special representatives have acquired very special significance.
Doval also referred to the talks between Prime Minister Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping during a multilateral event in the Russian city of Kazan in October last year and said that since then both sides have benefited greatly. Doval said, ‘The new environment that has been created has helped us move forward in various areas on which we were working.’
It is necessary to increase mutual trust through strategic communication
The meeting between Modi and Jinping took place two days after India and China reached an agreement to withdraw troops from the remaining two conflict points Depsang and Demchok in eastern Ladakh. The two leaders have decided to revisit many things, including talks between special representatives, to normalize bilateral relations.
The Chinese Foreign Minister said in his statement that both sides should enhance mutual trust through strategic communication, expand shared interests through exchanges and cooperation, and properly resolve specific issues on the borders.
Special importance to Prime Minister Modi’s visit to China
Wang said, ‘We are happy to see that stability has now been restored on the borders. Now is an important opportunity to improve and develop bilateral relations. The Chinese side attaches great importance to the Prime Minister’s visit to China to attend the SCO summit at our invitation.’ The Ministry of External Affairs said in its statement that bilateral, regional and international issues of common interest were discussed in the talks between the two foreign ministers.
He said that the Indian side strongly raised the issue of all forms of terrorism, including cross-border terrorism, and recalled that one of the basic objectives of the SCO was to combat the evil of terrorism. Minister Wang has agreed that combating terrorism should be given top priority. In the Special Representative talks, both sides discussed maintaining peace and harmony on the Line of Actual Control (LAC).