S Jaishankar, Wang Yi
NEW DELHI: Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi will visit India on Monday for talks with national security advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval under the Special Representatives (SR) mechanism on the boundary issue, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) confirmed on Saturday. “At the invitation of national security advisor Shri Ajit Doval, Member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China and Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi will visit India on 18-19 August 2025,” the MEA stated in a release. “During his visit, he will hold the 24th round of the Special Representatives’ (SR) Talks on the India-China boundary question with India’s SR, NSA Doval,” it added. Wang and Doval are the designated SRs for the talks. The MEA also confirmed that external affairs minister S Jaishankar will meet Wang for bilateral discussions. Wang’s visit comes ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s planned trip to Tianjin, China, to attend the annual Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit. Doval last visited China in December 2024 and held SR-level talks with Wang. The meeting followed the decision by Prime Minister Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Kazan, Russia, to revive various dialogue mechanisms between the two countries. In recent months, both sides have taken steps to improve relations that were strained after the June 2020 clashes between their militaries. PM Modi is expected to travel to China later this month for the SCO summit. Last month, India also resumed issuing tourist visas to Chinese nationals. The military standoff in eastern Ladakh began in May 2020, and the Galwan Valley clashes in June that year worsened ties between the two countries. The standoff ended after disengagement from the last friction points at Demchok and Depsang under an agreement reached on October 21 last year. If the plan goes ahead, PM Modi will visit Japan on August 29 before travelling to Tianjin for the SCO summit on August 31 and September 1. There is no official confirmation yet on his two-nation trip. Modi last visited China in June 2018 for the SCO summit, while Xi Jinping visited India in October 2019 for the second informal summit.
