National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Tuesday met Chinese Vice President Han Zheng in Beijing, with the two sides discussing ways to maintain peace and tranquillity along the India-China border and further improve bilateral relations. His meeting with Han came ahead of the 25th round of Special Representative talks on the boundary issue, scheduled later on Tuesday with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Doval, who is on a two-day visit to China, is also India’s Special Representative on the India-China Boundary Question.
They also exchanged views on further improving bilateral relations in economic, political and multilateral forums, in line with the understanding reached between the leaders of the two countries. “NSA underlined that stable, predictable and constructive bilateral relations contribute to building trust and better understanding between the two sides. Doval’s visit comes amid efforts by New Delhi and Beijing to improve ties following a series of high-level engagements between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The Embassy of India in China said in a post on X, “On 25 August, NSA and Special Representative on the India-China Boundary Question, Ajit Doval called on Han Zheng, Vice President of the People’s Republic of China.
Doval and Han discussed measures to strengthen peace and tranquillity in the border areas, according to the embassy. The Ministry of External Affairs had described those discussions as “constructive and forward-looking”. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at the time that the two sides had reviewed developments in bilateral ties and noted progress towards gradual normalisation. The discussions were constructive and forward-looking,” Jaiswal had said. The MEAs, after their meeting, said the two countries were “development partners and not rivals”, while underlining the importance of managing differences through dialogue. “A stable relationship and cooperation between India and China and their 2.8 billion people based on mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual sensitivity are necessary for the growth and development of the two countries, as well as for a multipolar world and a multi-polar Asia befitting the trends of the 21st century,” the ministry had said.
