Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is arriving in India on Monday for a two-day official visit that the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has described as significant, coming just ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s trip to China for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit.
According to details shared by the MEA, Wang will land in New Delhi at around 4:15 pm on Monday. Later that evening, at 6 pm, he will meet External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar for bilateral discussions. On Tuesday morning, he is scheduled to hold a new round of the Special Representatives (SR) dialogue with National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval at 11 am. The Chinese minister will then call on Prime Minister Modi at his residence, 7 Lok Kalyan Marg, at 5:30 pm.
The central purpose of Wang’s visit is to hold the 24th round of boundary talks with NSA Doval under the SR mechanism. Both Wang and Doval are the designated representatives for the long-running negotiations on the India-China border.
Border Row, Confidence-Building Measures on Agenda
People familiar with the planned discussions told news agency PTI that both sides are expected to review the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and deliberate on fresh confidence-building measures. The aim, they said, is to move towards durable peace and stability along the contested frontier.
The India-China relationship has remained under severe strain since the deadly clashes in the Galwan Valley in June 2020. Though troops have disengaged from multiple friction points in eastern Ladakh, the process of de-escalation is incomplete. Both nations continue to maintain between 50,000 and 60,000 soldiers each along the LAC in the region.
Wang’s visit follows the disengagement process that concluded last year in October at the remaining friction points of Demchok and Depsang, under a pact finalised on October 21, 2024.
Wang Yi’s Visit Linked to PM Modi’s Upcoming China Trip
The visit also carries weight in the context of Prime Minister Modi’s upcoming travel to China. According to the plan, Modi will visit Japan around August 29 and then proceed to Tianjin, the northern Chinese city hosting the SCO summit on August 31 and September 1.
Wang Yi’s consultations in New Delhi are expected to help set the stage for Modi’s engagement in China, which comes amid efforts to repair the fractured bilateral relationship.
Thaw In India-China Bilateral Ties After Galwan
Relations between New Delhi and Beijing took a sharp downturn following the clashes at Galwan in 2020, which marked the worst military conflict between the two sides in decades. Since then, restoring dialogue mechanisms has been a priority.
A turning point came last October when Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in the Russian city of Kazan on October 23, 2024. At that meeting, they agreed to revive various dialogue platforms between the two nations. The announcement came just two days after India and China formalised the disengagement agreement for Depsang and Demchok.
Following this, the two countries initiated steps to rebuild confidence, including the resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, the re-issuance of tourist visas to Chinese nationals by New Delhi, and discussions on restarting direct flight services. Flights between the two nations have been suspended since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, with the border dispute preventing their resumption until now.
NSA Doval visited China in December to continue the SR dialogue with Wang, only weeks after the Kazan meeting between Modi and Xi. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister Jaishankar also travelled to China in the last two months to participate in SCO gatherings, with Beijing currently holding the chairmanship of the regional bloc.
The Chinese foreign minister’s present trip is therefore viewed as part of sustained diplomatic activity aimed at consolidating the dialogue process and stabilising relations that were deeply damaged by the events of 2020.
India-China Ties Reset Amid Tensions With US
Besides the boundary situation, the talks are also expected to touch upon trade ties and connectivity. Discussions on resuming direct flights are on the agenda as well, as per PTI.
Wang’s visit comes at a delicate geopolitical moment, as India navigates tensions not just with China but also in its trade relations with the United States. PTI reported that the Chinese minister’s presence in New Delhi coincides with a phase of unease in India-US ties, with Washington raising tariffs on Indian goods and imposing penalties over energy imports from Russia.
Against this backdrop, Wang Yi’s meetings in New Delhi are expected to be closely watched by the international community for signs of whether New Delhi and Beijing are moving towards a sustained thaw in their troubled ties.
